96 
MADAGASCAR 
to save or to destroy the accused, for he could, accord¬ 
ing to his own conviction as to guilt or innocence, ad¬ 
minister either a weak or a powerful dose. Thousands 
fell victims to the tangen-trial in barbarous times, and 
it contributed materially to the decrease of population 
in Madagascar, as it was often a means of satisfying 
personal vengeance. In 1865 English and French in¬ 
fluence succeeded in bringing about the abolition of this 
cruel judicial proceeding, and it must be acknowledged 
that the Hova government acted with great decision, 
going so far in their reforming zeal as to destroy the 
tangen trees, so that at present only isolated specimens 
on the east coast are to be met with. One portion 
indeed of the conservative nobility rose against this 
innovation and even withdrew from the capital in 
order to continue the practice of poison-trial elsewhere. 
A lady of noble birth who stood at the head of the 
movement was condemned to death, but her life was 
spared on payment by her relatives of a fine of 10,000 
silver piastres. 
Anodier ordeal is the crocodile-trial, in which the 
accused is brought to a river, and the judge standing 
behind him makes a speech to the crocodiles and then 
calls upon the man who is accused of crime to swim 
over the river and back again. If he succeeds in doing 
this without injury his innocence is proved. As the 
waters in Madagascar teem with crocodiles, this trial by 
swimming is a truly dangerous one. 
The development of religious life has brought about 
important changes during this century. The inhabitants 
were originally heathens and worshipped a being of a 
distinctly fetish stamp. The belief in magic and the em¬ 
ployment of amulets of different kinds are even yet widely 
spread. At the beginning of this century certain idols 
enjoyed universal veneration among the Hova, and besides 
these there existed idols for sinMe localities and for the house. 
