HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
189 
and children be lost and reduced to slavery, (forbid that 
such should ever be our lot!)—then, that good may arise 
out of evil, we follow this custom of the people; and we do 
it for the purpose of assisting one another with our families, 
if lost in slavery, by whatever property either of us may 
possess, for our wives are as one to us, and each other’s 
children as his own, and our riches as common property: 
O the mouth of the heart! O the ball! O the powder! 
O the ginger! O this miserable fowl weltering in its blood ! 
thy liver do we eat, thy liver do we eat; and should either 
of us retract from the terms of this oath, let him instantly 
become a fool, let him instantly become blind, let this 
covenant prove a curse to him: let him not be a human 
being : let there be no heir to inherit after him, but let him 
be reduced, and float with the water never to see its source ; 
let him never obtain; what is out of doors, may it never 
enter ; and what is within, may it never go out; the little 
obtained, may he be deprived of it, and let him never 
obtain justice from the sovereign nor from the people ! 
But if we keep and observe this covenant, let these things 
bear witness. O mouth of the heart! (repeating as before) 
may this cause us to live long and happy with our wives 
and our children; may we be approved by the sovereign, 
and beloved by the people; may we get money, may we 
obtain property, cattle, &c., may w ? e marry wives, (vady 
kely,) may we have good robes, and wear a good piece of 
cloth on our bodies, since, amidst our toils and labour, 
these are the things we seek after. # And this w r e do 
that we may with all fidelity assist each other to the last. 
The incision is then made, as already mentioned; a small 
quantity of blood extracted and drank by the covenanting 
* A confession that confirms the declaration of the Divine Teacher, who, 
knowing what was in man, said, “ After all these things do the gentiles 
seek.” 
