THE ARAB IMMIGRATION INTO SOUTH-EAST MADAGASCAR. 349 
here is one method which I can vouch for. A Taimoro, with 
a design of this sort upon a certain village, goes there 
disguised as a traveller of some other tribe, and enters, as 
all travellers are welcome to do, one of the houses he finds 
occupied, for his mid-day meal. in the course of conversation 
with his host whom he can easily induce to believe that he 
has arrived from a place remote from the Matitanana, he 
draws from him a few leading particulars relating to the 
past life of the owner of a house he indicates. Then, having 
finished his meal, he resumes his journey. But, after getting 
a sufficient distance, he washes his face, which has been 
stained, changes his dress, putting on the peculiar long 
dressin g- gown style of robe worn by the Talaotra, and 
returns to the village, making no secret of his profession, 
and makes his way to the house indicated to his host of the 
morning. He takes care that there is a look of comfort and 
prosperity about the house and owner. He asks and readily 
obtains quarters for the night, as travellers are always 
welcome for the sake of their news, which is retailed round 
the evening fire. The Taimoro takes care to make it be 
believed that he has never been in that part of the country 
before, and has seen no one from the district. Then, when 
the time is ripe, he tells the man all he knows about him, in 
a careless way :—‘“ Let’s see, you lost your father two years 
ago in the rice-planting time ; he was gored by a bull at 
such and such a place,” and so on, till the man, in wonder, 
asks how he knows all that. It is of course put down to 
divination, and a good price is secured for the ody, which the 
rascal makes him believe will be just the thing for his 
household. The fame spreads with morning light. even his 
host of the previous mid-day is astounded by some pieces of 
information which he forgets he told the traveller of the 
previous day; and the end of it is that the cunning fellow 
leaves, driving before him several cattle, and with money in 
his loin-cloth in place of the worthless dirty bits of wood he 
leaves behind him. 
I have been able to obtain, through a converted Taiméro, 
an ancient copy of the sacred book, which, from the difficult, 
almost secret, way I got possession of it, is peculiarly 
interesting. It was evidently looked upon by its possessors 
as authentic and sacred, and they were actuated by no small 
fear when they were induced to part with it. I have taken 
considerable trouble to ascertain its actual contents, and after 
submitting it to several authorities, I at last obtaimed, at the 
