72 PRIMITIVE PATERNITY 



compliment. The blood of both is received in a new 

 vessel, and buried under a tree for nine days. It is 

 then taken up and ass' milk poured into it. Husband 

 and wife drink the mixture before going to bed, with 

 an incantation which reminds us of the Zulu story of 

 the blood in the pot ; for its earlier lines run thus : 

 " In the dawn three Fates will come. The first seeks 

 our blood ; the second finds our blood ; the third 

 makes a child thereout." 1 The powers of both 

 husband and wife appear to be thus increased. It is 

 rather the women who are directly acted on in the 

 Malagasy rite of "scrambling." This rite is per- 

 formed on a lucky day at the end of the second or 

 third month from the birth of a first-born child. The 

 friends and relatives of the child assemble. Some 

 fat from an ox's hump is minced in a rice-pan, cooked 

 and mixed with a quantity of rice, milk, honey and a 

 sort of grass called voampamoa. A lock of the infant's 

 hair ceremonially cut from the right side, and known 

 as " the fortunate lock " is cast into the rice-pan and 

 thoroughly well mixed with the other ingredients. 

 The youngest female of the family holds the pan, and 

 a general rush and scramble for its contents ensues. 

 In the scramble the women take a prominent part, 

 " as it is supposed that those who are fortunate enough 

 to obtain a portion may confidently cherish the hope 

 of becoming mothers." The rice-pan used becomes 

 taboo for three days. 2 Presumably the contents are 



1 Am Urqucll,m. 7. In the Zulu story referred to, a pigeon cups 

 the heroine and causes the blood to be put into a pot which is kept 

 covered for two moons when the heroine finds two children in the 

 pot (Callaway, Tales,, 105). The story is a favourite among the 

 Zulus, Kaffirs and Bas'jto, and several variants are known. 



a Ellis, Hist. Mcd^i. 153. 



