DIVINA TION. 309" 



divination held a very important place. Among tlie Hovas 

 tliis was called sihidy, a word which has been shown by the 

 Eev. L. Dahle * to be most probably of Arabic origin. This 

 fact, together with the additional one that the words for fate, 

 vintana, sorcery, mosavy, and possibly some other words con- 

 nected with these practices, are probably derived from the 

 same language, leaves little doubt that the practice of divina- 

 tion is of foreign oriQ-in, and was introduced into Madagascar 

 many centuries ago by the Arab settlers, both on the east 

 and west coasts. And this is further confirmed by the fact, 

 that many of the words employed in working the oracle 

 are also evidently of Arabic origin, from their commencing 

 with the Arabic article Al. According to native accounts, 

 this form of divination was supernaturally given to their 

 ancestors ; but probably the stories told were invented to give 

 greater authority to the decisions of the diviners, who were 

 accustomed to invoke the names of the ancients to whom 

 the art was said to be first communicated and who trans- 

 mitted it to posterity. 



But it will be asked. What was this sikidy .? and how 

 were its decisions ascertained ? It was a " mode of working 

 a particular process by means of beans, rice, straw, sand, 

 or any other objects that can easily be counted or divided. 

 Definite and invariable rules were given for working the 

 process and deciding upon the result." A number of lines 

 were drawn resembling the divisions of a chess-board ; the 

 first set had sixteen columns one way and four the other, the 

 second set four columns each way, and the third set four by 

 eight. Taking a handful of beans from a heap, the diviner 

 withdrew two, then two more, and so on until only two or 

 one bean was left, which he placed on the first square at the 

 top of the right-hand corner. All the spaces were filled up 

 in a similar way. Then by certain fixed combinations of 

 numbers from the second table, the third one was filled up ; 

 and as each column, read in different directions, had a special 

 name and significance, the coincidence in numbers between 

 different columns was supposed to point out what was to be 

 done in case of real or imaginary, present or apprehended, 



* Antananarivo Annual, Ko. ii. p. 80. 



