"SPIRIT OF EVIL" 295 



called, probably from this use of it, t&ny r&vo, or "joyful 

 earth." 



The charms which were used to procure victory in the 

 bull-fights have already been mentioned ; and many charms 

 are also employed to secure a favourable result in the tangdna 

 ordeal. 



There is a curious custom formerly in use among the 

 Bdtsileo, and still practised by other southern tribes, which 

 is called Sddamanga, a kind of incantation to induce the 

 " spirit of evil," which they believe possesses every one who 

 is ill, to leave the body in which it has entered and pass into 

 other bodies. Mr. G. A. Shaw, in his Notes of a Journey to 

 Ikdngo (South-east Madagascar), and also from information he 

 has kindly supplied me with, gives the following particulars 

 of the ceremonies employed : — " To compass this object 

 many forms are gone through under the direction of a 

 diviner. On the roof of the house were placed pieces of 

 white wood, pointed and painted in cross-bars of black and 

 red, and stuck in the thatch near the ridge, so as to resemble 

 the horns of the old-fashioned Malagasy houses. About 

 three feet from the door was planted a forked branch of a 

 tree, also resembling horns, having the bark peeled off from 

 the joint upwards. Those in the roof were to induce the 

 spirit to ascend them and so leave the house. That near the 

 door is to prevent any stranger, or any one coming from a 

 house of mourning, from entering the house, as that would 

 break the spell. Then twice every day a dance is per- 

 formed. The ddy or household charms are brought into the 

 courtyard, and placed on the wooden rice-mortar together 

 with a dollar. A cloth or mat is spread over this, and upon 

 the whole the sick person is seated, dressed in a most curious 

 fashion. One had on, among other ornaments, a conical 

 fool's cap, decked with leaves and flowers, and a great tassel 

 at the tip. Then drums and bamboos were beaten, and the 

 native guitar, banjo, and flute played, the whole village form- 

 ing a circle round the sick person and clapping hands, while 

 the women and girls sang a monotonous refrain. Then a 

 woman of rank appointed for the occasion began to dance, 

 while another, seated behind the sick persons, began to I eat 



