MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
67 
or spoons are employed, but a kind of cup, twisted 
deftly out of a piece of green leaf, serves all the 
purposes of these articles of domestic comfort in 
use amongst ourselves. The smoke finds vent 
through the door or windows, and in course of 
years the roof becomes festooned with spiders' 
webs and soot, which are never on any account 
disturbed. These are regarded by the natives as 
marks of honour, as they are supposed to show 
the age of the family, aud the number of years 
the particular duelling has been occupied by 
themselves and their ancestors. The progress of 
time is reckoned by the age and phases of the 
moon ; and the Malagasy have a very ingenious 
plan for marking the various periods of the day 
from sunrise to sunset, by pointing the finger to 
different elevations of the sky, which mark the 
stages of the sun's progress. For instance, if they 
wish to speak of noon, they raise the finger verti¬ 
cally overhead; if of evening, they point low 
down to the western horizon, as the spot where, 
as they express it, the sun dies. If afternoon is 
meant, they take a point midway between these ; 
and the clear blue sky, which is seldom altogether 
clouded, makes it possible to follow this system 
with tolerable accuracy. The natives are very 
early risers, and they are astir and commencing 
their daily employment soon after “ cock-crow ” 
in the morning. This is about four o’clock, or 
