434 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
said of any one who is extremely impatient, and who refuses 
to wait a stipulated or reasonable time, Tsy mahandry 
andro Zoma—“he cannot wait till Friday.” And when 
heavy showers of rain fall in rapid succession, they are 
called Sese omby—“a crowding together of cattle.” 
The object for which the sikidy is worked, is, to ascer¬ 
tain what must be done in cases of real or imaginary, 
present or apprehended, evils. During illness, the sikidy is 
the grand physician, deciding what house and village the 
patient may remain in, from what food he must abstain, 
what water he may drink, what medicines must be used, 
and what friends or relations may be allowed to visit him. 
In proposing to buy or sell, the sikidy decides whether the 
bargain will prove favourable or unfavourable; according 
to which the object is either pursued, postponed, or relin¬ 
quished. When intending to visit relations or friends, the 
sikidy is sometimes consulted to ascertain whether the indi¬ 
viduals are likely to be taken ill on the road or not; and in 
the rainy season, when in dread of thunder and lightning, 
the natives consult this oracle to learn the means of preser¬ 
vation. Illness, therefore, and a superstitious dread of 
some expected calamity, are the principal circumstances 
under which the Malagasy make their appeal to the sikidy. 
The confidence they place in this mode of divination, 
affords demonstrative evidence of the power by which 
superstition subjugates and enslaves the mind; and accounts 
for the eagerness and tenacity with which practices are 
maintained, many of which are, to the natives themselves, 
puerile and extravagant. Their importance is derived 
solely from the fact that they are appointed by the sikidy; 
which the Malagasy regard as an answer from god, or the 
mode by which their gods reply to their petitions for guid¬ 
ance, safety, and prosperity. 
