1870.] of the Channel Islands. 161 



of skulls. A similar conclusion was come to by Mr. Boye in 

 examining a tomb at Hammer, in Zeeland. I find some almost 

 similar instances among the Hovas of the present day, which may 

 serve to throw some light on the subject. In Ankova the bodies 

 of lepers are carefully bound up and rolled or thrown into a grave 

 dug in any unenclosed space ; here they are left interred beneath 

 the soil for at least twelve months, after which they are dug up, the 

 bones cleaned of all the flesh, wrapped in cloth, and deposited in the 

 family vault. Again, the Hova warriors are always anxious that 

 their remains should rest in the ancestral stone vault, and it is cus- 

 tomary for comrades on a campaign to pledge one another that 

 should one of them die, the survivor is to obtain and convey the 

 bones of the deceased to his relations. In such a case every particle 

 of flesh is stripped off the bones, which are brought with great 

 trouble from the scene of action, however distant, and given to the 

 nearest relatives, and buried with due ceremony. When the 

 body cannot be found, after a battle for instance, it is usual to erect 

 a cenotaph, which consists of an unfinished tomb, i. e. the three 

 sides of unhewn stones, the fourth being left open for the disturbed 

 ghost to enter and repose. Is it not possible that some of the 

 apparently incomplete kists were erected with similar intentions ? 



The author noticed near Andevorante a tumulus on which were 

 six upright conical stones about 6 feet high, which had been erected 

 in memory of six Hova officers who died or were killed during 

 Eadama's campaign against the Betsimasarakas. 



Before leaving the subject it may be as well to allude to the 

 vestiges of the Yazimba, the supposed aborigines of Madagascar. 

 These vestiges consist of small tumuli, or rather cairns, surmounted 

 by an upright stone pillar, and are generally overgrown with 

 thickets. These graves or altars are regarded with superstitious fear 

 by the natives, both Hovas and other tribes : they occur in Ankova 

 and in the western portions of Madagascar. These Yazimba are 

 said to have been dwarfs, and are described by Eochon under the 

 name of Kimos, and supply the same part in the Malagasy legends 

 that the Lapps do as pigmies in the northern Sagas. There 

 is little doubt that these Yazimba were the Hovas themselves, who, 

 although not diminutive, are below the average stature, and who in 

 colour, intelligence, activity, industry, courage, manufactures, and 

 habitations, are exactly what Eochon describes the Kimos to have 

 been. Like the Trolls and goblins of Scandinavia, the Yazimba 

 have two characters; they are sometimes malicious and spiteful 

 (masiaka), at other times benevolent and grateful (masina). It is 

 curious that both in Europe and in Madagascar the pre-historic 

 tumuli should be referred to these dwarfs and elves; thus in 

 Sweden we have goblin caves and pigmy hillocks, and in the 

 Channel Islands we have Pocquelaye, Creux des Fees, &c. 



