DRESS. 327 



the way of -wearing it. The l^mba is the outdoor or walking 

 dress, and the arms are not free, as they are enclosed in its 

 ample folds. But when in preaching or other public addresses 

 the speaker gets excited, the lamba is thrown off one shoulder, 

 leaving the arm free ; so that the Scripture expression of 

 " making bare the arm " is a most familiar one to the Mala- 

 gasy. And then when about to engage in any active work, 

 the l^mba is thrown entirely off the shoulders, and is bound 

 tightly round the waist, here again being exactly the " girding 

 the loins " so frequently mentioned in Scripture. Our native 

 servants, like those mentioned in the Parables, gird themselves 

 before serving us at meals (Luke xii. 37), and their Malagasy 

 masters constantly make use of these girded-up Ikmbas as 

 towels for wiping their hands before and after taking food 

 (see John xiii. 4, 5). This l^mba can, of course, like the 

 garment of Bartimeus, be easily taken off and cast away 

 (Mark x. 50), or left in the hand of a pursuer, the wearer 

 escaping (see Gen. xxxix. 13; and Mark xiv. 51, 52, — the 

 young man with a linen cloth cast about him) ; and in the 

 case of the poor, it is also their covering for the night as well 

 as for the day, as it was with poor Israelites ; although there 

 is no such merciful provision in the Malagasy law as in the 

 law of Moses, forbidding that it be retained in pledge for a 

 debt (see Exod. xxii. 26, 27 ; Deut. xxiv. 1 2, 1 3). The great 

 majority of the people do not wear shoes, but when going 

 on a journey, especially if the roads are rocky, or the grass 

 prickly, they prepare a rough kind of sandal or TcdiJa, bound 

 round the foot with thongs after the manner of Eastern 

 peoples. 



In taking food, the hands are largely used by the Malagasy 

 (as in the East generally) in serving others and in feeding 

 themselves. From this it becomes a necessity to wash 

 before and after eating (see Matt. xv. 12), and for this 

 purpose a servant comes round and pours water over the 

 hands, just as did " Elisha, who poured water over the hands 

 of Elijah " (2 Kings iii. 1 1). And when they invite friends 

 to a feast, the host and hostess themselves serve at the table, 

 considering it an honour to wait upon their guests, just 

 as did Abraham when entertaining his three unknown, but 



