140 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
wild boar,” because it is affirmed that the young boar, 
when running by the side of its dam, continually gets before 
her, and turns round to bite its parent. To be avaricious, 
is expressed by mahihitra , “ grasping atand sometimes 
by antanamamba , “in the hand of a crocodile.” Such 
characters are regarded as odious, and are deprecated in 
the public proclamations. 
Apathy, want of decision, and excessive indolence, cha¬ 
racterize, very generally, the natives of Madagascar; and 
these, with the oppressions of the government, may be 
regarded as the fruitful sources of much of the extreme 
poverty that prevails in the country, and of many of the 
seasons of famine from which they suffer so severely. The 
mass of the people seem alike destitute of forethought and 
enterprise, and hence are unprepared for any failure of their 
crops, and unable to extricate themselves from any unfore¬ 
seen calamity. Nothing is a greater impediment to the 
advancement of civilization than indolence; and nothing 
shows this more distinctly than the state of starvation in 
which the people are sometimes found, while a small 
amount of labour on the rich soil of the country around them, 
would have supplied provision in abundance for a greatly 
augmented population. They are also far from being 
cleanly in their persons, and bathe but seldom. 
Mr. Hastie states, that their passions are never violently 
excited ; that they are not quick in avenging injuries, but 
cherish for a long time the desire of revenge for the most 
trifling insults, while they rejoice or exult in the distress of 
others. In obedience to their rulers, they are influenced 
by fear, and, when gathered in large numbers, have been 
seen to look upon distress and death with perfect indiffer¬ 
ence ; or, if any feeling has been manifest, it has often 
been that of pleasure. The public executions exhibit more 
