272 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
the surface of a rock, or smooth flat stone, near the native 
dwelling. Small stones are used in playing, and the art of 
the game consists in moving them from one hole to another, 
as the pegs are moved in the children’s game of fox and 
geese, until one entire row is emptied. Dealers and 
traders resorting to the ports on the coast, or the capital, 
have, in recent years, made some of the natives acquainted 
with the use of cards; and with many of the people who 
have been associated with foreigners of the class above 
referred to, playing at cards has become a favourite pas¬ 
time, though they do not appear to have staked large 
amounts on the game. Card-playing may therefore be 
included in the catalogue of the amusements of the 
Malagasy. 
In speaking of music, we advance still further; and 
of music, both vocal and instrumental, the Malagasy are 
extremely fond, though in neither have they yet made 
much progress. 
There are two native instruments of music, the valiha 
and the lokanga, to which may be added the drum. The 
valiha is a bamboo, having eight small slips cut from its 
rind between two of its joints, and then by means of small 
pieces of wood, used as bridges in a violin, elevated about 
a quarter of an inch. The player holds the instrument 
before him, and uses both hands in twitching the cords. 
The music thus produced is soft and plaintive; the tunes 
few, short, and extremely monotonous. 
The lokanga is somewhat louder, and more generally 
used by the slaves than the valiha. It is formed of a piece 
of wood, notched at one end so as to form three or four 
rests for the cord or string. One string is stretched upon it, 
and attached to the head of a hollowed calabash or gourd. 
The music, as might be supposed, is extremely feeble and 
