VOYAGE TO MADAGASCAR. 185 



can the MadecafTe remain an nil-* 

 feeiiug and ftupid fpettator of his cala mi- 

 ties? Certainly not — and the iefs enlightened 

 he is, the more will his mind be filled with 

 terror. He will afcribe thefe great cataftro- 

 phes, which feem to threaten the earth with 

 deft ru£t ion, to the anger of an invifible be- 

 ing who governs it ; he will endeavour to 

 appeafe him b)^ prayers and facrifices 5 and, 

 miftakmg the nature of that worfhip which 

 he owes to the Deity, he will invent, in his 

 folly, the moft childifli, abfurd, and often 

 even fangiiinary pra<^ices. It is only through 

 the efrea of that fpirit of infatuation, from 

 which no people are free, that the Malega- 

 ches appear to us more criminal than cani- 

 bals, when, by the mofl culpable fuperfti- 

 tion, they expofe to the teeth of ferocious 

 animals, according to the decifion of the 

 omblaffes, their new-born children, Thefe 

 impoftors obfcrve the afpeit of the planets, 



and 



