HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
243 
which their voraciousness presents. It is seldom, if ever, 
that more than part of the bones of the unhappy wretches 
who have been denied the protection of a grave, remain on 
the ground on the following morning. 
Another unhappy and pitiable class are the lepers; though 
they are buried, yet no rites or ceremonies are allowed on the 
occasion. The grave is dug, not among the tombs of their 
ancestors, but in some unenclosed place, and the body, care¬ 
fully bound up, is literally rolled or thrown in any manner 
that can be done without touching it. Sometimes, after 
being in the earth for twelve months, or a longer period, 
during which it is supposed it has been undergoing a puri¬ 
fying process, it is dug up, when the bones are cleaned, 
w r rapped in cloth, and deposited, with prescribed ceremo¬ 
nies, among the sepulchres of the family. 
In the case of the bodies of those to whom the greatest 
respect was paid, and whose tombs are regarded as the 
most sacred places, the Malagasy do not appear to have 
had recourse to embalming the whole body, or even pre¬ 
serving the heads of the deceased, as is practised in some 
parts of the East, or in New Zealand and the South Sea 
islands. They are nevertheless able to preserve the bodies 
of the members of the royal family for a considerable time 
after death, chiefly by the plentiful use of gum-benzoin, or 
other powerful aromatic gums, of which abundance is 
found in the forests of the island. 
Few of the general indications of the peculiar customs of 
the Malagasy are more remarkable than their places of 
sepulture. Most of their graves are family tombs or vaults. 
In their construction, much time and labour, and some¬ 
times considerable property, are expended. The latter is 
regulated by the wealth of the proprietor. In erecting a 
tomb, the first consideration is the selection of an eligible 
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