Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/547

MALAGASY CUSTOMS. 449 districts of the empire have still partly preserved the primitive usages and customs inherited from tht*ir Mulay or Bantu ancestors, as well as the religious rites and ceremonies of the olden times The Malagasy who have not yet adopted in part or altogether the European dress, or the long white cotton robes introduced by the missionaries, wear nothing but the lamhn, a sort of skirt which amongst the populations of the interior is made of bast pounded with the hammer. Malagasy CustroMs. The natives of many districts also still tattoo the face or raise scars or welts on the body, like their African or Polynesian ancestors, or dress the hair with clay and grease, like most (# the tribes along the Upper Congo. Thus the Baras fashion the hair in the form of a great ball by means of wax and fut kneaded into a sort of yellowish pigment. The dwellings of the uncivilised natives are merely wretched hovels made of beaten earth, reeds, and the foliage of the ravenala plant. Amongst some communities firearms are still unknown, the warriors using nothing but their primitive spears, bows and arrows, or else the still more primitive blow- pipe. The rite of circumci!?ion is universally practised amongst all the populations not yet converted to Christianity. In the Sakaluva communities the operation is performed at the age of six or seven, after which the victim is henceforth consi- dered as a man. On this occasion he fires his first shot, and is also knocked about and well shaken by the assistants, to give him a forecast of the arduous life- struggles for which he must now prepare himself. In general the Malagasy children enjoy a considerable degree of freedom, and in most of the tribes the young men and women are allowed to contract temporary unions without exposing themselves to censure. They come together on trial before making up their minds to a permanent alliance Until he is married the Malagasy remains a minor, incapable of inheriting property. The marriage itself usually takes the form of a purchase, and, as in so many other countries, is accompanied by a show of abduction. In some districts the purchaser is not allowed to carry off his prize until he has gallantly fought for her, and made a sufficient display of tact and bravery against the young men of the neighbourhood. Amongst the Sakalavas the alliance cannot be settled by the parents without the consent of their children ; but they always take prece- dence at the wedding feast. At this festive gathering bride and bridegroom eat out of the same dish, after which they dip their finger in a vessel containing the blood of an ox slaughtered in honour of the occasion, and then smear the breast of the guests with the blood. The Sakalava unions are as a rule much respected, and divorces, euphemistically called " thanksgivings," are of rare occurrence. Cases are also said to be common enough of the survivor comnntting suicide through grief at the death of his or her companion in life. But amongst the ^lahafali, the women are on the contrary universally regarded as inferior beings, bound to serve man in all things and 126— AF