FOREIGN ELEMENT IN DOMESTIC NAMES. 1 57 



cated swine is Idsda, probably a corruption of the French 

 coclion ; while the wild hog, closely allied to an African spe- 

 cies of potamochcerus or river-hog, is called dmho. The fine 

 humped cattle of the island were probably introduced many 

 centuries ago from Africa, for they are called omby (or ombe), 

 doubtless the same word as the Swahili word for ox, ngombe. 

 One of the most amusing words used as a name for a bird is 

 that for turkey, voron-tsi-loza, which means "the not terrible 

 bird." This name has doubtless arisen in this way : when first 

 seen it excited some fear from its formidable-looking crest and 

 wattles and its gobbling noise ; but it was soon perceived that 

 there was nothing to be afraid of, and so the apprehensions 

 it at first caused being found to be groundless it was called 

 voron-^sz'-loza, "a bird 7iot to be afraid of" after all. 



So also, the peach, guava, and many other fruits, retain 

 their foreign names, being unknown until the French intro- 

 duced them ; while, on the other hand, the word for the 

 cocoa-nut, voa-wto, is the same as that used in the Pacific 

 Islands, and points back to a very remote period, when the 

 ancestors of the present inhabitants of Madagascar either 

 brought it with them from over the sea, or found it growing 

 in the country, and gave it the name by which they had 

 known it in the far eastern Malayan or Polynesian islands. 



One of the few words which has been retained in Mala- 

 gasy very nearly in its original form is the widely-spread 

 saldm, the beautiful shalom (peace) of the Hebrew. It is, 

 however, chiefly used in the sense of being in health. 



Turning from the " history " to the " poetry " embodied in 

 Malagasy words, we find many beautiful examples of this 

 element in language. 



And first of all, is the native name for the sun, which 

 shines with such unclouded brilliance in Madagascar almost 

 all the year round. It is called mdsodndro, the " eye of day," 

 surely a most poetical term for the glorious orb which is 



*' Not as in northern climes, obscurely bright, 

 But one unclouded blaze of living light." 



During more than half the year the sun rises in undimmed 

 splendour, pursuing his course towards the zenith, and then to 



