POPULATION 
73 
certain directions, it has been enriched on the other 
hand by the introduction and assimilation of foreign 
elements, so that much has been admitted from Arabic, 
French and English. The names of the days and the 
months are of Arabic origin, those words which indicate 
articles imported from Europe are French, while words 
denoting articles used for house building, pedagog¬ 
ical and ecclesiastical terms are of English derivation. 
The names of domestic animals and of useful plants also 
spring from a foreign source. It is not without interest 
to notice that the humped cattle, which in many places 
form the wealth of the inhabitants, are called “ ombe ”. 
This expression comes from the Swali word ngombe ” 
which means ox. Thus the cattle of Madagascar have 
certainly been introduced from East Africa, and this is con¬ 
firmed by my own anatomical examination of the construc¬ 
tion of the skull; they belong to the Sanga breed, which 
is found as far as Abyssinia. In geographical names it 
is sometimes difficult to recognize the derivation from 
European languages. Thus the coast town Tamatave is 
called “Toamosina,” a corruption of the Portuguese name 
San Tomaso, and Fort Dauphin is called by the Malagasy 
“Faradofay”. With language is closely connected the 
art of singing, to which nearly all the tribes are passion¬ 
ately given, in accordance with their lively and cheerful 
disposition. Every festive occasion, whether of a joyous 
or mournful nature, is accompanied with singing and music. 
If we go on the water, the boatmen accompany the 
stroke of the oars with their soft sailor songs, ceasing 
when perhaps a crocodile comes suspiciously near to the 
craft. If we rest from the labours of the day in a 
Malagasy village a concert is got up for the entertain¬ 
ment of the stranger. If a person of consequence dies, 
musicians surround the house of mourning, followed by 
men and women, while the relations within are dissolved in 
tears. Among the Sakalava a monochord is used, drums 
