HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
401 
it was, he replied, Omby lahy vola, “ a bullock of money” 
And on further inquiry, it appeared that he worshipped 
it as his god of money. On another occasion, two of the 
Missionaries were struck with the appearance of a very 
curious bushy plant, hung up in an old chieftain’s house; 
and while examining it, they were told it was the chief¬ 
tain’s idol, which he worshipped daily. 
The office of mpitahiry, or guardian of the national 
idols, is hereditary, and considered highly honourable. 
The temple in which they are kept is no more than one 
of the ordinary houses of the natives, in which the guar¬ 
dian of the idol usually resides. A kiady, or pole with a 
small knot of straw tied to the top of it, is generally 
placed near the door, to give notice that entrance is 
forbidden. 
There is not usually any altar connected with the 
residence of the idol, and hence its temple is not con¬ 
sidered in the light of a place destined for worship. In¬ 
stead of the people going to the idol, the idol is brought 
to the people. Sacrifices are sometimes offered in the 
village where an idol is kept, and the sacred stone is used 
for this purpose. But generally the people offer their 
sacrifices at the vato vazimba, which are stones considered 
to be sacred, and erected where the tomb of a vazimba 
is supposed to have existed. The sacrifices are also 
offered to the dead, and to the vazimba, more generally 
than to the idols themselves. 
The idols are appealed to in solemn oaths of allegiance, 
and in the administration of the tangena, or trial by ordeal. 
They are also at occasional, not fixed, periods carried 
about publicly to disperse diseases, to fortify the people 
against the danger of storms and lightnings, and to bestow 
virtue on springs and fountains. They are also carried to 
i. 2d 
