212 
MADAGASCAR. 
Polygamy still prevails throughout the south¬ 
west, and one chief, “ Ivoatsa,” is credited with 
one hundred wives, whilst every king has from 
four to a score or more : and every man has as 
many as he can maintain. The wives do all 
the service of the royal house. They build the 
“ palace,” cook the food, plant the rice, and 
serve up the meals. 
Infanticide prevails to a shocking extent 
amongst these people. Should the wise men 
declare the child to be ombiasa, or born on an 
unlucky day to the father only, its life is spared 
for the mother’s sake ; if on a day unlucky to the 
mother only, the child is spared for the father’s 
sake; if on a day fatal to both, it is buried alive 
in an ant-hill . Unlucky children are called nebo; 
and the strongest language for a father to use in 
correcting his child is to say, “ Had I thought you 
would be a nebo , I would have buried you in an 
ant-hill.” 
The Bara warrior is thus described. The 
hair is fastened up in rows of little hard balls all 
over the head, the knobs being hardened and 
decorated by a very plentiful admixture of fat, 
wax, and whitening. These balls number from 
ten to perhaps one hundred and twenty. On 
the crown of the head is a chignon of the same 
materials, a little larger than a tennis-ball. Each 
knob is impacted against the other, and all have 
