360 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
sacrificed for the good of the kingdom, opposite the tomb 
at Ambohimanga, the king stands over the sacrifice to offer 
up the prayers and thanksgivings, while his attendants are 
employed in the slaughter of the animal. Taking into his 
hands the sampy (idols), Manjakatsiroa, and Fantaka, he 
stands on a platform, sometimes in a full kabary of his 
people; and while he prays, and inquires of the idols, he 
faces the east. The same ceremony is performed opposite 
the tomb of Andriamasinavalona, before he goes out into 
the kabary, and on his return home. 
Within the court-yard of the palace, and situated between 
the two houses appropriated to the national feasts and 
ceremonies, is a sacred stone, upon which no foot less sacred 
than the sovereign’s is ever permitted to stand. Upon this 
stone, sacrifices are offered; and here also, on all public 
occasions, the king alights from his horse or his palanquin, 
before he steps upon the ground. This object of venera¬ 
tion is not peculiar to the palace. In every village where 
an idol is kept there is a sacred stone, situated near the 
court-house. 
The most important and popular festival celebrated in 
Madagascar, is that of the new year, in which the sovereign 
acts a conspicuous part. The Malagasy year commences 
with a national feast or lustration, called “ mandro,” to 
bathe, or “ fandroana,” bathing. It receives this designa¬ 
tion, because bathing constitutes one principal part of the 
ceremony; but the whole is not always observed with equal 
formality. In the early part of Radama’s reign, he adhered 
far more strictly to the ancient national observances than 
during the last two or three years. The following de¬ 
scription of the feast is taken from observations made 
in 1821. 
It is elsewhere remarked, that the Malagasy year consists 
