288 



Photo by Wm. Rau] 



[Philadelphia. 



CONGO CHIEFS. 





The Hova tombs are vaults of four huge slabs of rock, and over the stone tomb of a king is 

 built a wooden house, provided with money, dresses, and furniture. On poles round the 

 ordinary tomb are placed the skulls and horns of the cattle killed at the funeral feast. It 

 has been stated that the Hova kings are buried in a silver canoe, which., like the canoe- 

 coffin of the Sakalava, may be a reminiscence of a time when canoes played a larger part in 

 the life of the people than they do in Madagascar. 



Circumcision was once general, but has fallen into disuse, owing to the spread of Chris- 

 tianity: when the rite is performed, it is done quietly, without the old ceremonies and festivals. 



The political organisation of the country before the French occupation was a limited 

 monarchy. The last three sovereigns were queens, whose consorts were nominally prime 

 ministers, but were the actual rulers. Slavery was prevalent until recently, and the nation was 

 divided into three classes the nobles, the citizens or Hova, and the serfs. 



The language, as we have seen, is a primitive dialect of Malay, with some intermixture 

 of Arabic and Suahili. The personal names, which are of cumbrous length, afford an illustration 

 of the system of ''agglutination," which differs altogether from that of the Bantu language. 

 The names consist of a string of words united into one. Thus the sacred name of the famous 

 Queen Ranavalona was Eabodonandrian-compoinimerina, which is interpreted by Sibree as " The 

 simple one (or child) of the prince in the heart of Imerina." 



THE author is indebted to Mr. Stowell Ashwell, of Antananarivo, for photographs of Malagas! types reproduced on 

 pages 275-378 and 280, 281. Acknowledgement should also be made to Professor Keane, the eminent anthropologist, for 

 the use made of his well-known book, " Man Past and Present." 



