THE ARAB IMMIGRATION INTO SOUTH-EAST MADAGASCAR. 337 
The Mpanombily, the chiefs or lords of the manor and 
descendants of the old kings, are subdivided into: 
(a) Anakara. (6) Taiony or Antsiony. (c) Talaotra or 
Antalaotra (this, which is the name applied by the Malagasy 
generally to the Arabs proper, is a name assumed by 
all the Tompomenakely occasionally). (d) Taisambo.  (e) 
Taitsimaito. (f) Taimahazo. 
The Menakely are divided into castes or sub-tribes as 
follows :— 
(a) Onjatsy; these are said to have originally come from 
the north, when the tribe settled in the neighbourhood of 
Matitanana. On their arrival, they had the office of 
Mpanombily, but afterwards the dignity passed from them, 
because, when called upon to officiate, that is, to lull the 
cattle or fowls, etc., for the people, they put the tribe to 
all kinds of inconvenience, and the animals sometimes to 
unnecessary hardship or torture, by going about their own 
private work before attending to the duties of their office. 
(0) Taimainty; the fishermen, those who fished with nets. 
(c) Taimandja or Antrémanaja; these are said by some to 
have been the first arrivals in Matitanana; they are the 
potters. (d) Taibé or Anteibé. (e) Taimasiry. (f) Taivo- 
hitrindry. (g) Zinatseranana; people conquered by the 
Zafisoro, and given land in this district. (h) Taimanasara. 
(i) Taivato; these were originally from the south, where 
there is still a large tribe of this name; they are doubtless 
not pure Taimoro, but one of the immigrant tribes. 
(j) Taitsimatra. (4) Tambahive. (/) Taimananano.  (m) 
Tailavakara. 
These names represent simply the largest divisions of the 
tribe, many of them being derived from the distiicts they 
inhabit, or else the districts have received their titles from 
the name of these sub-tribes; the former I think the most 
probable. Of them all, the Talaotra appear not only to be 
the most interesting, but also to have an authority or 
influence arising from the superstitious reverence for their 
ancestry accorded to them by the other tribes. 
Very little and but uncertain tradition exists among most 
of the different tribes in Madagascar as to their origin ; and 
even the direction from which their ancestors came is so 
uncertain that some of the tribes say their forefathers came 
from the east, and some that they came from the west; and 
so contradictory are the traditions on this subject, that no 
reliance can be placed on any account. But all this is other- 
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