Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/818

 812 MADAGASCAR is extensively cultivated, but is not smoked ; it is mixed with other herbs and made into snuff, which is taken, not into the nose, but into the mouth. The rongona or native hemp is smoked in reed pipes. The favorite amuse- ments are fishing, hunting wild cattle, bull baiting, cock fighting, and a game called Icatra, somewhat resembling draughts. The people are extremely fond of music, both vocal and instrumental, though they have not made much progress in either. They have, besides the drum, two native instruments of music, the valiha and the lokanga,. The former is a bamboo having eight small slips cut from its rind between two of its joints, and then by means of small pieces of wood, used as bridges in a violin, elevated about a quarter of an inch. The player holds the instrument before him, and uses both hands in twitching the cords. The music is soft and plaintive ; the tunes are few, short, and monotonous. The lokanga is made of a piece of wood notched at one end so as to form three or four rests for the cord or string. One string is stretched upon it and attached to the head of a hollowed calabash. The music is feeble and dull. The women sing in chorus with much skill and!* effect, and the villagers often assemble and pass the even- ing in singing and dancing. The houses of the better class are built of wood, and so well put together that they are perfectly firm, although joined without nails. They are oblong, inva- riably placed N". and S., with the door to the "W. They often have verandas, but no chim- neys, though the climate of the highlands is often cold enough for fires in the evening. The roof is covered with rushes, and rises to an extreme height, and ornamented poles at the gables indicate the owner's rank. The rich have many such houses. The poorer dwellings are built of bamboo, rushes, or clay, and are colored pink or yellow. The villages are sur- rounded by deep ditches, unless placed on in- accessible heights. The usual vehicle of travel is the tacon, a light palanquin borne upon the shoulders of four Bezanozanos or carriers. The dress is uniform and simple. It consists generally of two and at most of three gar- ments, chiefly of hemp or cotton, varied among the slaves and poorer classes by a cloth inferior to either of these, and manufactured from the bark of the rofia, the banana, and some other trees ; and among the rich by silk or foreign cassimere and broadcloths. The salalca, a piece of cloth about a yard in width and two yards long, is fastened round the loins, passing under the body, and having the extremities in front reaching to the knees. The women wear a cloth called kitamby, of the same materials as the salaka, but considerably broader. It is worn round the person immediately below the breast, and reaches nearly to the feet. But the most important and characteristic garment is the lamba or mantle, which varies in dimen- sions and quality with the rank and circum- stances of the wearer. It is worn by both sexes and all classes, both adults and children ; for adults it is usually three or four yards in length and two or three in breadth. The royal lamba, which is held in the highest estimation, is of fine scarlet English broadcloth, bordered and richly ornamented with gold lace ; it is worn by the king on sacred festivals and state occasions. The use of a dress entirely scarlet is the exclusive privilege of the king, to whom is restricted also the distinction of using a scar- let umbrella. The lamba is worn by all classes over the shoulders, whence its folds hang loosely, reaching nearly to the ankles, the ends being drawn together in front of the wearer. By the men it is adjusted so as to hang prin- cipally over the left shoulder ; by the women, over the right. The Madagascans are remark- ably fond of peddling and of frequenting pub- lic markets, which are held every day in the week in the neighborhood of the large towns, and at which vast multitudes assemble. Foreign commerce has long been carried on with the Arabs from Muscat and Zanzibar, and with traders from the W. coast of India, who bring raw silk, cotton cloth, gunpowder, trinkets, and other articles to the N. W. ports, partic- ularly to Majunga, in the bay of Bembatooka. American vessels going up the Mozambique channel or from Tamatave to Zanzibar usually stop there to exchange cotton sheetings, hard- ware, furniture, gunpowder, and firearms for hides, rice, ebony, beeswax, and gum copal. There is also a trade with Mauritius and the Cape of Good Hope. The commerce of the E. coast is mostly at Tamatave, where a United States consular agent is accredited. In 1872 6 steamers and 99 sailing vessels, of an aggregate of 35,055 tons, entered this port; the total value of imports was $377,361 90, of exports, $382,066 02. The principal imports were cot- ton sheetings, calico prints, crockery, rum, shoes, salt, and hardware ; principal exports, India rubber, beeves and swine, hides, beeswax, arrowroot, gum copal, and rabannes, a kind of coarse matting. The trade in India rubber be- gan in 1869-'70, and in 1872 the export from Tamatave alone amounted to 449,591 Ibs. The customs duties are 10 per cent, in kind on all imports and 10 per cent, in money on exports. The money in use is mostly French silver, the current piastre or dollar being the five-franc piece. The government of the Hovas is a des- potism, modified and tempered by customs and usages which have the force of law. Of late years, however, the military force at the com- mand of the sovereign has so much increased, that there is little or no practical check upon the royal authority. The succession to the crown is hereditary in the royal family, but not in the direct line of descent, for the reign- ing sovereign designates his successor at plea- sure. Females are not excluded from the throne. The nobles or andriambaventi, who rank next to the members of the royal family, fulfil the functions of judges. Their number is not fixed, but usually there are about 12 re-