HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
255 
for the memory of the departed sovereign; but it seems 
scarcely possible that the immense sums of money were 
with the same view consigned to the grave. The govern¬ 
ment probably took advantage of the popular sentiments 
of the nation in favour of the inviolate sacredness of the 
tomb, thus to deposit so large a portion of its treasure in a 
place, in which it would be safe amidst any civil commotion 
that might ensue, and to which, in any emergency, it might 
have the readiest access. The violation of the royal tomb 
was one of the highest crimes that could be committed, 
as was shewn in the fate of an unhappy man who was 
convicted of it in Radama’s reign. 
Whether Radama’s father had all his specie marked or 
not, is not known, but the dollars buried in the tomb with 
him had each a peculiar mark. On one occasion, during 
the early part of Radama’s reign, a dollar was brought to 
the mother of Radama, then living in the palace. On look¬ 
ing at the dollar, she remarked, “ I have seen this before !” 
and then declared it to be one that had been buried with 
the corpse of her royal husband: investigation proved this 
to be the fact—that the tomb had been entered, and some of 
the dollars stolen; and the man who was detected, was 
put to death by a slow process of the most cruel torture 
that the native ingenuity could devise. 
Besides tombs, there are also cenotaphs: these generally 
consist of a low wall, built on three sides of a square. This 
is intended for the ghosts of those who die in battle, and 
whose bodies have not been found. Their ghosts, it is 
supposed, are allured to repose in sacred spots, thus reared 
for them by the hands of friends, and thereby find that rest 
which otherwise they would have sought in vain, while 
wandering with the owls and animals of ill omen in the 
