HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
423 
to direct. After the particular article is appointed, the 
priest counts upon it all the evils that may prove injurious 
to the person for whom it is made, and which he then 
charges the faditra to take away for ever. If the faditra be 
ashes, it is blown, to be carried away by the wind. If it be 
cut money, it is thrown to the bottom of deep water, or 
where it can never be found. If it be a sheep, it is carried 
away to a distance on the shoulders of a man, who runs 
with all his might, mumbling as he goes, as if in the greatest 
rage against the faditra, for the evils it is bearing away. 
If it be a pumpkin, it is carried on the shoulders to a little 
distance, and there dashed upon the ground with every 
appearance of fury and indignation. 
The faditra of a sheep and pumpkin was witnessed by 
Mr. Jones, in 1830, when a great number of persons were 
compelled to drink the tangena, in suspicion of having 
bewitched the queen, who was then suffering from a slight 
indisposition. 
The Afana is a ceremony performed at the tomb of a 
person recently buried. It consists of firing muskets or 
cannons, slaughtering oxen, and feasting. The quantity of 
gunpowder used, and the number of cattle slaughtered, 
depend entirely upon the rank and riches of the deceased. 
The skulls and bones of the oxen are fixed on poles, at the 
head of the tomb, for a memorial. The natives say that 
the use of the afana is to take away evil from the dead, 
that he may rest quietly in his grave. This is their last act 
of kindness for the departed. 
The term Vazimba, of which frequent use has been 
made, has three several significations. In its strictest 
sense it appears to designate the aborigines of the interior 
of Madagascar, from whatever part of the coast they may 
have come. 
