76 
MADAGASCAR. 
and is commendable at least on sanitary grounds. 
The “ covenant of blood,” already described, is 
also doubtless of Asiatic origin; at least its 
existence cannot be traced elsewhere than in 
Madagascar and Polynesia. 
The institution of “ taboo ” exists extensively 
amongst the Malagasy under the name of fady , 
and each family has its own particular articles 
of diet and places of resort which are fady , or 
not to be touched or visited on penalty of death 
or destruction by some dire calamity. These 
things were originally forbidden the head of the 
tribe or clan by the idol-keepers or mpanao ody, 
witch-doctors, and they have ever since been 
avoided by their descendants. What is fady 
to one family, however, may be quite harmless 
and even necessary to others. For instance, 
manioc is tabooed to one clan, beef to another, 
and to another the use of the foreign or imported 
articles—and so on. Tobacco is grown and used 
in the island, in the shape of snuff, which is 
placed in the mouth under the tongue, and not 
in the nose, as with Europeans. The powder, 
after being retained a few minutes, is ejected, and 
a fresh supply taken. 
The subject of domestic slavery cannot be 
overlooked in treating of the customs of these 
people. The system prevails throughout the 
island, and was not affected in any degree by 
