HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
161 
any hesitation, calling out and asking for their accustomed 
indulgence. 
Nothing can exceed the affection with which the infant 
is treated by its parents, and other members of the family; 
the indulgence is more frequently carried to excess than 
otherwise; and it is pleasing to record the testimony of 
those who have dwelt among the people, that instances 
are numerous, in which the affection of the parents has 
been reciprocated by the children, many of whom have 
been known to love and honour their parents even to 
old age. 
The fathers generally carry their little boys on their 
shoulders, where the latter are seated erect, and held by 
the father’s hand. Mothers carry their children, accord¬ 
ing to the usages of the country, on their backs, or at 
their side, resting on their hip; and a custom prevails in 
the island, which marks in a pleasing manner the operation 
of filial affection;—children are in the habit of occasionally 
presenting their mothers with a piece of money called 
fofon-damosina, 44 the remembrance of the back,” as a 
sort of grateful acknowledgment for the kindness of the 
parent in having so often borne the infant on the back. 
Though filial affection is rarely seen where enlightened 
and judicious parental discipline is not uniformly mani¬ 
fested, the latter is almost unknown in many parts of 
Madagascar, and is even, where it prevails, exceedingly 
lax. The children are not subjected to the least restraint, 
but are, as soon as able to act for themselves, allowed to 
follow their own inclinations, except so far as their daily 
wants render them dependent upon their parents, by whom 
the wishes or caprice of the child is rather humoured than 
resisted or controlled. Lax, however, as parental restraint 
certainly is, continued stubbornness and disobedience is 
i. 
M 
