476 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
ominously placed across each other, edgeways, upon the 
nut. The elderly person, who seemed to act as chief in 
the business, then discussed at length the divine qualities of 
the tangena, and offered a sort of prayer that its desired 
effects might be produced in the case in hand. “ This,” 
said he, “ is given by god to men to be a test of actions. 
It is infallible in its decisions, and just in its effects. It is 
a cordial to the innocent, and death to the guilty.” He 
then prayed to “ Zanahary, lord of heaven and earth, the 
observer and judge of all actions, that he would cause the 
nut not to injure, if the man were innocent; but if guilty, 
that it might torment, pain, and kill him,—that every 
possible curse might overtake him, and his body become 
food for dogs and the birds of the air,—that his spirit after 
death might transmigrate from one beast to another, from a 
pig to a dog, from a dog to a cat, and from thence to the 
most venomous, voracious, and despicable creatures on 
earth.” 
The suspected individual was asked if he had stolen the 
cloth; when, replying in the negative, the nut was scraped; 
and when about twenty grains of the powder were pre¬ 
pared, the man was again interrogated, “ Guilty, or Not 
Guilty?” Persuasions were employed to induce confession; 
as these were vain, the powder was given him, mixed with 
water, and rice-water, in small draughts, for a length of 
time afterwards.* In about two hours the pains com¬ 
menced, and increased with much violence. Though a 
stout, athletic man, and the quantity of the nut taken was 
small, its effects were excruciating. Amidst his tortures, 
he solicited medicines. These were denied, and he per¬ 
sisted in maintaining his innocence. His agonies were now 
f No pieces of skin were given, that not being the custom on the coast. 
