60 
MADAGASCAR. 
reign of the first Ranavalona, were rather the 
outcome of violent paroxysms of political fear 
and religious fanaticism than an expression of 
the real mind and feeling of the Malagasy as a 
nation. It is remarkable that—notwithstanding 
the large area of the island, and the thinness of 
population, and the very limited communication 
which is kept up by the inhabitants of one dis¬ 
trict with those of other parts of the country— 
there is a marked similarity in the habits and 
manners of the natives. 
In their domestic architecture, dress, speech, 
and family arrangements they differ very slightly; 
and this fact has been made the most of by those 
who hold that originally these people all came 
from one common stock. Infanticide prevailed 
to a large extent years ago, and even now the 
dread custom lingers in some remote places; but 
the crime is heavily punished wherever the 
perpetrators can be brought to justice. The 
superstition of lucky and unlucky days prevailed 
throughout all the tribes, and the unfortunate 
infants who came into the world on any of those 
days were immediately destroyed. The fearful 
trial by poison ordeal, or administration of the 
tangena , was perhaps the most cruel and revolt¬ 
ing practice with which the Malagasy, however, 
could be charged. The test was administered to 
prisoners accused of capital crimes, by command 
