IN PERILS BY SEA. 
157 
guardian demons who take care of all nations, 
families, and private persons; and should you be 
possessed of one of these owleys, and give it the 
name of some guardian spirit, it will undoubtedly 
attend you.” 
The patriarchal element in Malagasy idolatry 
is distinctly recognised in these early accounts, 
and confirms what was ascertained by the first 
Protestant missionaries. There has apparently 
never been a priesthood properly so-called, nor 
anything like an organised worship. Drury 
remarks : “ There are no people here who pretend 
to be greater favourites of the Supreme Being 
than other men, and to have a particular com¬ 
mission to interpret and declare His will. No one 
has as yet been so presumptuous as to attempt 
this, and if any one should be so hardy, he would 
meet with but few to credit him. Every man 
here—the poor man as well as the rich lord—is a 
priest for himself and his family.” The political 
power of the numerous petty chiefs having been 
absorbed in the one sovereign of Madagascar, 
their sacerdotal office was naturally transferred 
to the same supreme ruler; so that since the 
commencement of the present century the king 
or queen has acted as the national high priest 
at the fandroana and on other solemn occa¬ 
sions. Reference to some of these customs has 
already been made, in describing the New Year's 
