HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
479 
others. The prince replied, “ Well, you also are coming to 
the king, and if I am required to drink it, you must.” All 
accordingly drank it; and while the prince and others were 
proved innocent, the old judge was convicted by it, died 
almost immediately, his property was confiscated, and his 
house razed to the ground without delay. A tomb has been 
subsequently erected on the spot where his house stood, by 
the senior judge. 
The king had, however, himself reposed little or no con¬ 
fidence, of late years, in the ordeal. Various circumstances 
had demonstrated to him its futility. Among many in¬ 
stances of robbery, one man was suspected of having stolen 
a bullock. The tangena was given to two dogs, as repre¬ 
sentatives of the accuser and the accused. That of the 
latter died, and the man was accordingly declared guilty, 
and fined. A few days afterwards the bullock was found, 
and under circumstances which proved the accusation and 
the conviction had been false. The fine was, of course, 
returned, the man treated as an innocent sufferer, and the 
tangena lost a little of its credit for infallibility of 
decision. 
Administering the ordeal to two dogs, as in the case just 
mentioned, is a very prevalent custom. Sometimes two 
fowls are employed instead of dogs. Fewer ceremonies are 
used in such instances, but the design is the same. Which¬ 
ever party is represented by the dog or fowl that is proved 
resy, or “ overcome,” by the tangena, must submit to the 
same fine or award as though he had personally drank the 
tangena, and been convicted on its evidence. 
After the dog has swallowed the tangena, the following 
invocation is used—“ Hear, hear, hear, and hearken well, 
O thou Raimanamango. Thou art now within the stomach 
of the dog, which is the substitute of eyes, life, feet, hands, 
