420 
HISTORY" OF MADAGASCAR. 
pathies are the pig—let him take heed that it have no access 
to the villages of his abode—the snail, musket, and onions, 
let them not be borne there ; and the goat and the horse, 
suffer them not to ascend his villages. And in the time of 
thunder (that is, summer) the children shall not play at 
kicking each other blue. Ye shall not throw dirt at each 
other, for these things are his antipathies; so do not these 
things, but take good heed.” 
The whole of the idolatrous ceremony connected with 
the sprinkling, is called mitiofana; but the precise act of 
sprinkling is called mitiodrano. It is performed on many 
occasions, such as the spreading of the small-pox, when the 
harvest is ripening, when a distant war is undertaken, or 
on the departure of the soldiers from the capital. 
An idolatrous procession is thus described by one of the 
teachers. The object of the procession was to order the re¬ 
moval of certain houses and fences, said to be obnoxious to 
the idol’s displeasure. The idol was Ramahavaly, but 
acting under the authority of Rakelimalaza. The first man 
in the procession carried a long pole, about twenty feet in 
height, at the top of which was the idol or its symbol. 
Round this, and round the top of the pole, was wrapped 
scarlet velvet, which hung down like the skirts of a child’s 
doll rather raggedly attired. After this man came another, 
bearing in his left hand a bullock’s horn, containing water 
mixed with honey, and in his right a small bunch of twigs 
used in sprinkling. Behind him came fifty very fine athletic 
men, walking two abreast. Each of these bore in his left hand 
a bundle of grass containing a serpent, and held his right 
arm free to seize the serpent, which he brandished about at 
pleasure. The procession marched with firm and rapid 
step, and in perfect silence, none being allowed to speak. 
If any stood in their path, one stepped from the ranks, and 
