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CHAPTER XL 



CURIOUS AND NOTEWORTHY CUSTOMS AMONG THE 

 MALAGASY TRIBES — (concluded). 



CIRCUMCISION OBSERVANCES — BROTHERHOOD BY BLOOD COVENANT — ROYAL 

 ANCESTOR - WORSHIP AMONG THE SAKA1AVA — TOMBS AND FUNERAL 

 RITES. 



Circumcision Observances. — The reader of the Hebrew Scrip- 

 tures would suppose that any notice of circumcision in Mada- 

 gascar should be considered in connection with the religious 

 observances of the Malagasy, since it holds such a prominent 

 place in the Jewish religion, and among Mohammedan peoples. 

 But among the Malagasy tribes it appears to have little, if 

 any, religious significance, and to be regarded rather as an 

 initiation into the community, since no one who has not 

 undergone the ceremony can be a soldier, or be considered 

 as properly qualified for Government service. The children 

 who undergo the ceremony are said to be made "men," to 

 be " consecrated " or established. Circumcision appears to 

 prevail throughout all the various tribes inhabiting the island, 

 and in their main features the observances connected with it 

 are much the same, although there are curious varieties of 

 custom on some particular points. 



Among the Hovas, it was a time of the greatest festivity, 

 exceeding that of any other time, but also of shameless licen- 

 tiousness. It is not observed when every male child reaches 

 a certain age, as amongst the Jews and other Semitic peoples, 

 but every few years, at a time appointed by the sovereign 

 for the ceremony to be observed by the people generally 

 who have children still to receive the rite. 



The ceremonies last over several days, and in the case of 

 children of the royal family are somewhat fuller than when 



