HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
393 
They have no knowledge of the doctrine of the soul as a 
separate, immaterial, immortal principle in man, nor has 
their language any word to express such an idea. They 
speak of the saina, but mean by this the intellectual 
powers. They speak also of the fanahy, the nearest term 
found to express spirit; but it seems, in their use of it, to 
imply principally the moral qualities or dispositions. In 
almost the same breath, a Malagasy will express his belief 
that when he dies he ceases altogether to exist, dying like 
the brute, and being conscious no more, and yet confess the 
fact, that he is in the habit of praying to his ancestors ! If 
asked, were his ancestors not human beings like himself, 
and did they not cease altogether to exist when they died— 
how then can it be consistent to pray to them when they 
have no longer any being, he will answer, True, but there 
is their matoatoa, their ghost; and this is supposed to be 
hovering about the tomb when the body is interred. And 
there is also the ambiroa, or apparition, supposed to 
announce death, to visit a person when about dying, and 
to intimate to him, and sometimes to others, his approach¬ 
ing dissolution, an idea by no means peculiar to Mada¬ 
gascar, as it corresponds with the popular superstition of 
most European countries, that the funeral, or apparition, 
of a person still living, is permitted to be seen as a super¬ 
natural intimation of his approaching death. 
The next question is, What becomes of the saina, or 
mind, when a person dies? To which the Malagasy 
replies, It is a part of the body. But does it return to dust 
with the body in the grave ? No; the body returns to dust, 
and the saina becomes levona, i. e. “ vanished,” invisible. 
And the aina, or life, becomes rivotra—air, or wind, not 
retaining its individuality, but absorbed and lost in mere 
aura—a mere breeze—a breath in the general mass of air 
