HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
141 
painfully, not only the absence of all the finer sensibilities 
of our nature, but the worse than brutalized state of the 
public mind. The unhappy victims of the treacherous 
ordeal of poisoned water, when declared guilty, are savagely 
dragged away, their bodies mutilated in a most horrid man¬ 
ner, or they are hurled down a fearful precipice, in the 
presence of multitudes of spectators, who look on without 
the least emotion of pity; while the children who have 
mingled with the crowd, amuse themselves by throwing 
stones at the lifeless bodies, which the dogs are rending to 
pieces. 
Amidst so much that is opposed to every dictate of 
humanity, we notice with pleasure any indication of more 
generous feelings; and besides the sensibilities of this order 
already mentioned, few are more conspicuous than their love 
of country. With rare exceptions, they always leave their 
homes under great depression of spirits. It has been 
observed by Mr. Hastie, and others who have accompanied 
them on their military and other expeditions, that many 
become exceedingly melancholy if the period of return be 
delayed; and it is supposed, that some fall victims to their 
love of home. The Hovas often, when setting out on a 
journey, take with them a small portion of their native 
earth, on which they often gaze when absent, and invoke 
their god that they may be permitted to return to restore it 
to the place from which it was taken. But when returning 
from a foreign land to their native island, or from a distant 
province to their own, every countenance beams with glad¬ 
ness, they seem to be strangers to fatigue, and seek, by 
singing and dancing on their way, to give vent to the ful¬ 
ness of their joy. 
But even in these circumstances of grateful pleasure, 
their hardheartedness is strikingly exhibited. As the 
