OA TH OF ALLEGIANCE. 185 



the clans of Andrians do not intermarry, nor can an Andrian 

 marry a Hova, or a Hova marry a slave ; neither do the three 

 classes of slaves marry with each other ; and tribes and even 

 families generally marry amongst themselves (with certain 

 exceptions as regards the descendants of sisters, who cannot 

 intermarry down to the seventh generation), so as to keep 

 landed and other property together. One clan of Andrians, 

 however, the Zi\nakambcny, have certain privileges which they 

 maintain with great tenacity ; and there are various things 

 they will not do, as mending a fence, associating with the 

 other tribes, lending a mat or a drinking vessel, or eating from 

 the same dish with other people. They are, accordingly, very 

 superstitious, as well as proud, poor, and ignorant. They 

 almost monopolise the craft of making tinware. 



Royalty. — Eoyalty and chieftainship in Madagascar has 

 many peculiar customs connected with it, a few of which may 

 be here noted down. When a Malagasy sovereign succeeds 

 to the throne an oath of allegiance must be taken by all 

 persons of position and by representatives of the distant tribes, 

 who come up to the capital for that purpose. These signs of 

 allegiance are three in form — the Lefondmhy or "spearing 

 the calf ; " the Vdli-rdno or " striking water ; " and the presen- 

 tation of Hasina, or silver coin. 



In the ceremony of Ldfondniby, a young calf is killed, the 

 head and feet are reversed in position, spears are thrust into 

 the carcass, and those who are to be sworn each hold a spear 

 in their hand while one of the judges repeats a form of oath, 

 imprecating fearful penalties upon the head of those who 

 violate it, and hoping that they may in that case become like 

 the mangled animal before them. To this they express assent 

 by violently shaking the spears. This form of oath is chiefly 

 employed for the more influential personages. 



For those lower in rank the oath of vdli-rdno is considered 

 sufficient. In this ceremony the parties stand round a small 

 pond of water into which there has previously been thrown 

 the dung of a bullock, the flower of a certain grass, a musket 

 ball, rice chaff, the wadding of a musket, branches of a tree 

 called dmhidty, a long grass, and a water flower. An oath of 

 allegiance having been recited by one of the judges, assent is 



