110 CEREMONIAL INSTITUTIONS. 



are expected to appear in the capital. . . . Sometimes a chief who 

 suspects that he has become obnoxious to the king, will not trust 

 himself in the capital without the means of defence or intimidation.&quot; 

 Further, as showing how in Africa the visit is a recognized 

 expression, of subordination, we have the fact that &quot; it is not 

 etiquette for the king of Dahomey to visit even his high 

 est officers.&quot; And then Madagascar and Siam yield in 

 stances in which the political meaning of the visit is shown 

 by making it to a proxy ruler. Ellis mentions certain 

 Malagasy chiefs as &quot; going to the residence of the governor, 

 to present their homage to the sovereign s representative, 

 according to the custom of the country at this season; &quot; 

 and, speaking of the u thirteen other kings &quot; in his domin 

 ions who every year pay tribute to the king of Siam, Bow- 

 ring quotes evidence that u formerly they used to come to 

 the city of Odiaa to make their sumbaya (which was to kiss 

 the sword of their Grand Seiior); and now, by the Royal 

 command, they come to make it before his viceroy.&quot; Writ 

 ing in the seventeenth century, Tavernier describes the 

 extreme to which this kind of ceremony was carried in the 

 empire of the Mogul. &quot; All those that are at Court are 

 oblig d, under a considerable Penalty, to come twice every 

 day to salute the King in the Assembly, once about ten or 

 eleven o clock in the morning, when he renders justice; 

 and the second time about six hours at night.&quot; And such 

 scepticism as we might reasonably feel concerning this 

 statement, is removed on finding that at the present time 

 in Jummoo and Kashmir, the Maharaja receives bi-diurnal 

 visits from &quot; all of a certain standing.&quot; Till lately, Japan 

 furnishes various illustrations of the usage and its mean 

 ings. There was the yearly visit made by the secular 

 monarch to the Mikado, originally in person and then by 

 proxy; there were the yearly visits of the nobles to court 

 the superior ones doing homage to the emperor himself and 

 the inferior ones to his ministers; and, still more signifi 

 cantly, there were the recurring migrations of certain lords, 



