28 1 TANGEM-BOAY AND KODEO ORDEALS. 



hand unblistered he is accounted guilty, and if accused of 

 stealing he must pay the stipulated fine. The hand not 

 blistering, and the accused having waited for others to declare 

 him innocent, his accuser must give him one slave, and he is 

 set free. 



Another ordeal is that of Tangdm-lohy, the " ordeal by 

 crocodile." In this test the person suspected of wrong-doing 

 is taken to a river in which there are many crocodiles. The 

 people are assembled there. A man stands behind the accused 

 and strikes the water thrice, and addresses the crocodiles, 

 begging them to show whether the culprit is guilty or other- 

 wise. He' is then made to swim across the river and back 

 again, and if he successfully accomplishes this, and is not 

 hurt by the crocodiles, then the accusers are fined four oxen ; 

 the swimmer gets two, the king one, and the councillors one.* 

 It may be presumed that few escape this ordeal with life. 



Still another ordeal is called Koddo, a word of obscure 

 meaning. In this ceremony the accused is set upon a rice- 

 mortar, and he is made to mutter. A man then approaches 

 holding a large stick, with which he thrice strikes the earth, 

 and thrice cuts the hair of the accused, throwing it to God, 

 who is invoked to show his guilt or innocence by certain 

 signs. Should the person be guilty it is said that he at once 

 begins to tremble, to be purged, and to vomit ; and some of 

 them, although they do not die as they sit there, do not 

 escape, for the lightning, it is said, soon strikes their houses. 

 If, although guilty, he finds favour with his judges, they 

 invoke God's mercy for him and purify him by lustration. 

 Should the person be innocent he is sprinkled with water, in 

 which silver rings have been allowed to stand, to make him 

 well. 



The drinldng of the VoJcoka, or water mixed with earth taken 

 from the tomb of a former sovereign, as a test of allegiance, 

 may also be regarded as a species of ordeal. 



Another ordeal must be mentioned which was formerly in 

 use in Imerina. In the case of children born in the month 

 of Alakaosy it was possible to avert the necessity of actually 



* For a romantic story founded on this custom see Chrrmhers's Journal, jj. 309, 

 December i, 1S49, " The Trial by Caiman," by Percy B. St. John, 



