HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
179 
The hasinct . usual fee or acknowledgment in money, 
according to the rank and ability of the party, is then pre- 
sented to the sovereign, as presiding master of the cere¬ 
monies, by the father or guardians of the children; and the 
sovereign is in the habit of lending to his personal friends, 
or chieftains of high rank and station, on these occasions, 
silver chains of different size and value, which are used in a 
subsequent part of the proceedings. 
The vessel having been, as they suppose, consecrated, 
and the customary offerings or dues paid, the calabash is 
carried in procession, amidst the shouting and dancing of the 
people ; the pageant being rendered increasingly grand and 
imposing in their estimation, by the numerous ornaments, 
large hats, and bands across the shoulder, which are worn 
by those who now proceed to obtain what is designated 
sacred or holy water. 
As the leader of the procession exhibits with his shield 
and his spear, as he moves along, the attitudes and 
actions of a warrior, he asks repeatedly, E ! rano inona 
itoy ? “What water is this?” To which others answer, 
E! rano masindrano manory ! “ This is the holy water 
that wearies.” 
On arriving at the spot in the fields from which the water 
is to be taken, a stem of the banana-tree is planted in the 
earth—a tent is erected near the spot—and under the shelter 
of the latter, the party remain for the night, as it would 
interfere with the required sanctity of the ceremony, for the 
holy water to be conveyed into any house excepting that in 
which the ceremony is to be performed. A fattened ram, 
purchased for the occasion, is killed and eaten with bananas, 
sugarcane, &e. during the time the party is waiting for 
the water deemed sacred, the obtaining of which is so 
important a part of the ceremony. 
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