358 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
times, and of selling others to the traders on the coast 
for exportation. 
Hasina, or donations, are presented as acknowledgments 
of the sovereignty of the monarch, and are made on 
innumerable occasions. Strangers from all parts of the 
country, and all foreigners arriving at the capital, present 
the hasina to the sovereign. In all great kabarys, the hasina 
is presented by the several districts and different parties in 
the kingdom, by the judges, the army, the police, heads of 
clans and villages, and by the scholars and others in their 
respectively associated capacity. On the king’s returning 
home from a distant excursion, after a war, in passing near 
a village, or on any event of public importance, as at the 
fandroana, circumcision, &c.; the hasina is also presented 
to the sovereign. The sums given on these occasions are 
usually small, but the aggregate forms a large amount. 
A tenth of all the produce of the country belongs to the 
sovereign, and is called fahafolo, or a tenth. An annual 
poll-tax also exists, though not universally enforced, 
amounting to one sikajy for each slave possessed by a free 
subject. Of goods introduced to the capital, and sold in 
any way except in the public markets, one-fifth of the 
profits is claimed by the sovereign; and on every child born 
to a slave, one-fifth of its value must be paid by the owner 
into the king’s exchequer. There exists also an isantrano, 
or tax, of one sikajy on each house. Free-will offerings of 
the first-fruits of the harvest are also made to the sovereign. 
A certain proportion of rice must also be paid in by the 
bourgeois for the service of the army. An isampangady 
(i.e. each spade) is an amount paid from the yearly pro¬ 
duce as a kind of rental. On the estates called Menakely, 
that is, certain portions of land or villages assigned by the 
sovereign to members of the royal family, to the judges, 
