HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
293 
These professions are not hereditary; but as the son 
generally assists the father while living, acting constantly 
under his direction, on his death he is generally chosen by 
the king to the office held by his father, and enters fully 
upon its duties. Sometimes the son is excused from taking 
upon himself the office or profession of his father, even 
though appointed by the king, if disinclination or other 
causes induce him to decline it; and occasionally, an 
adopted son, brought up to the profession of his patron, 
succeeds him in the discharge of its duties. 
It will be seen that amongst these professions, poetry 
and music are not specified; not because they do not exist 
in a rude state, but because they are not practised pro¬ 
fessionally. There is, however, a singular class of men w r ho 
ought not to be omitted here, as professors of prophecy— 
the mpaminany, or prophets, who, after looking earnestly 
in a man’s face, pretend to foretell some propitious event 
as sure to occur to him, for which agreeable intelligence 
they expect an immediate reward. 
Having noticed what may be regarded as the professions 
of Madagascar, we proceed to consider the more general 
occupations of the people, who, in Ankova, have, in regard 
to their occupations, been lately classed in two divisions, 
viz., soldiers and bourgeois , or townsmen. The former are 
generally called sorodany, a corrupt native pronunciation 
of soldat , but they have lately been designated miara-mila, 
a native compound word, signifying c< united in seeking.” 
The bourgeois are called borizany, a corrupt pronunciation 
of the word bourgeois, which is employed at the capital, and 
in many of the provinces, to designate all who do not belong 
to the army, and are not employed by the government. 
Both names are of modern introduction, having been used 
only since the formation of the army in 1822 . 
