COURT ETIQUETTE. 187 



show that the kings of Assyria when appearing in their state 

 chariots had a large and richly decorated umbrella carried 

 over them by an attendant. 



In some of the songs sung in praise of the sovereign there 

 appears to be a trace of connection with the custom in souie 

 Polynesian Islands, by which the king was always carried on 

 men's shoulders, as otherwise wherever he might walk would 

 become henceforth his own property. So some of the Mala- 

 gasy songs speak of the Queen as tsy mandla tdny, " not 

 walking on the ground," and indeed the sovereign is very 

 seldom seen except carried in the state palanquin, unless 

 when stepping from it to the " sacred stone." One of these 

 is in the centre of Antananarivo, and upon it the Queen al- 

 ways stands for a few minutes when returning to the capital 

 from a distance, being then saluted by the troops presenting 

 arms and by the discharge of cannon. The other sacred stone 

 is in a plain below the city to the west, and on that it used 

 to be the custom for the sovereign to stand at her accession, 

 a custom somewhat like that at an English coronation, when 

 the king or queen is seated in Edward the Confessor's chair 

 and upon the sacred stone from Scone. 



Scarlet is (as with ourselves) the royal colour in Mada- 

 gascar, and no one but the sovereign can wear a scarlet 

 Idmha ; and upon the death of a king or queen one of the 

 royal houses is completely draped in scarlet from the ridge to 

 the ground. When the scarlet umbrella is seen by the people 

 even at a great distance, they bow towards it and salute their 

 Queen. As in European courts, it is a great breach of etiquette 

 to turn the back towards the sovereign, and those who pass 

 in front of her bend down, stretching out both hands and 

 repeating the salutation, " Eeach old age, sovereign lady, not 

 Buffering from disease, live as long as the people" (or, "the 

 under the heaven "). And as a devout Mussulman turns in 

 the direction of Mecca whenever he prays, so does the loyal 

 Malagasy, in whatever part of Madagascar he may be, turn 

 towards the palace when drinking the health of his sovereign 

 on any festive occasion ; and when any number of soldiers, 

 however small, at any of the distant military posts, are on 

 drill or are drawn up for any purpose, they turn towards the 



