AM. HOVA.-I'm thinking of a story I once heard

About that precious tribe.

AL. HOVA.

And while the time.

AM. HOVA.

Let's hear it then,

My neighbour had a horse;
He bought it of a white man from Maurice
And took it from the coast to Betsileo,
A present for their king. And all the way
Across the country inland, this old nag
Received no end of human courtesy ;
The people bowed politely on the road

And gave it: "How d'you do, Sir?" and "Good bye."

[Commotion and amusement near the head of the crowd, which makes a way and allows FIRINGA the Fool to pass down the open centre, dancing.] It's daft old Dunghill.

AL. HOVA.-
FOOL.-

AL. HOVA.—

FOOL.

Well, you nasty name.

How so?

'Twere better yours were Dunghill too.

You'd have fit place to put your manners in.

AM. HOVA.-You're hit, my friend.

(To Fool)

FOOL.- To get an appetite.

AL. HOVA.

FOOL.

Firinga, why d'you dance?

And why get that?

Because the King will bring tough words to eat,
And I don't want to have the stomach ache.

[Enter the King and his train of attendants, followed by singers and shell blowers. Drums, etc. Assembly rises and makes obeisance.]

The King is safe and well. [rising alone after the assembly has reseated itself.] A salutation, Master.

KING.

FOOL.

[Amusement in the crowd.]

KING.

Why behind,

FOOL.

KING.

Firinga? Surely not from halting heart?

And brings cold drinking when the well is deep.
Eh! good Firinga?

[Crowd tries to incite Fool to reply.]

SEVERAL.

Answer him again.

The bucket's up soon in shallow wells, Sire.

AN OFFICER.-[near the King.]

FOOL.

The Sovereign says there's room for you up here. [Seating himself near the Hova of Alasora and his companion.]

Pray tell my Master, I'm more snug with fools. [Drums and shells. Officers command attention. The King takes a spear and rises to speak.] KING.—

ALL.

Attend to me, ye clansmen of the hills,
For words of mine are ever at your ears,
And I'm become like one who weeds a field,
And weeding, often looks to harvest time;
Imerina is now a multitude,

And if I show you not the way to go,
The feet of some will wander, and they'll fall.
Your duty, therefore, is your summons here,
And foremost yours, North-Mamba men.
We'll hear no more the lazy slave's excuse
Who's bidden go for fuel and replies:
"I've only just returned from herding kine."
You shall not dare to vex your neighbours' minds
With boast of how you made your chieftain King,
Nor vaunt of having used your heads as shields
In days when they were captive to our war.
This land of ours shall know no rival tribes,
For all are equal when they come to me ;
By great God's gift the kingdom's mine.
Is't Aye, or No, O mountain Merina?
It's Aye!

[Shells and prolonged native cheers.]

KING.

ALL.

And all this isle, mid torrent seas,
Shall hang around me like a royal robe;
The west shall send us wild Imenabe,
Our dawn shall lead the undivided east,

The boastful south shall climb from Betsileo,
The north from reedy Hanaka shall stream;

There's Boina too, they've launched their fleet
canoes,

They wait but rising tide, and all the tribes
Shall each be first-born son to me the King.
Is't Aye to that, Imerina?

[Shell-blowing and cheers.]

It's Aye!

KING.- And here shall stand the witness of my words,

[A large stone is set up on end in the ground.]

A witness most oblivious of all fear;

And he who dares to fan our smouldering feuds,
Whate'er his rank, whate'er his wealth or fame,
Shall hither come, a traitor to his doom.
Is't Aye, or No, Imerina?

It's Aye!

And now hear law for me, Imerina.

There have been kings who owned none; they
had sons

Beloved, and wives beloved, and friends beloved,
And favourites seeking favours at their heels ;
And these, like hungry hawks from lawless air,
Came swooping on the fledglings of your wealth
And soared beyond your spears. They would
pretend

To buy your jewels, robes, your fighting bull,
And have them fetched to look at, with the price,
But never stooped to pay you or return

The treasures which your hearts refused to yield.
But that shall cease, Imerina, shall cease;
Yea, though Ralesoka, my sister here,

Who's orphaned and yet childless, as you know,
Should use her kinship and her precedence
To obtain a single real's worth by fraud,
I'll make the guilt pay double to your grief.
No kite builds here upon our crags with me,
For you and I are eagles, and my swoop

Shall ne'er leave wailing in the homes of friends.
Let every one his eyrie rule in peace,

And I upon the topmost rock will guard,

Your father and your King.

It's Aye, it's Aye!

[Shells; drums; long-continued cheers. Fool leaps up and leads the crowd in a dance of joy.]

W. CLAYTON PICKERSGILL.

NOTES.

The foregoing "Fragment" is founded upon the first of Andríanampòinimèrina's recorded speeches.

"Waiting for the King."-Andrianampoinimerina, father of Radama I; see following paper. "Alasóra."-One of the ancient royal towns of Imérina, the central province, and situated about four miles to the S.S.E. of Antananarivo.

"Ambohimanga."-The ancient capital of Imerina, situated about eleven miles north of

Antananarivo.

"Mamba."-A small boundary stream which flows about half-way between Antananarivo and Ambohimanga. The people of the latter town and its neighbourhood are called Avàradràno, 'North of the water.'

"Daft old Dunghill."-This is the literal meaning of the word firinga, which is, however, frequently used as a personal name among the Malagasy, probably from some idea that an evil-sounding name averts danger from 'the evil eye.'

"Mid torrent seas."-One of the names given to Madagascar in public speeches is Ny anìvon' ny riaka, The (land in the) midst of the seas,' or 'the flood.'

"Iménabé."-A Sakalava province on the western seaboard, formerly one of the two great kingdoms into which the numerous Sakalava tribes were divided, the other being Iboina.

"Undivided east."-The most important tribe on the eastern side of Madagascar is the Betsimisaraka, 'Many not separate.'

"Betsilèo."-The tribe and district to the south of Imerina. Many unconquered' is the meaning of the name. The story told about the tribe is preserved in a Hova proverb which says: Adaladala toa Betsileo: miarahaba soavaly! Foolish like the Betsileo: saluting a horse!'

"Hanaka."-Abbreviated from Antsihánaka, a district which derives its name from extensive hànaka, lakes or marshes. It lies about a hundred miles to the north of Imerina, and contains the largest lake in Madagascar, the Alaotra.

"Bóina."-A Sakalava province in the north-west, of which Mojangà is the chief town. It is traversed by the Betsiboka and many other navigable rivers.

"The witness of my word."-A large slab or block of undressed granite rock was often erected as a memorial of agreements.

"You and I are eagles."-The Hova of Antananarivo are called Vóromahèry, the name of a species of falcon (Falco minor, Bp.), which is the nearest approach to an eagle known in the interior of Madagascar.

TRANSLATION OF THE FAREWELL SPEECH OF ANDRIANAMPOINIMERINA. X

INTRODUCTION.

ANDRIANAMPOINIMERINA, the father of Radàma I. and founder of the Hova dominion, must have been born between the years 1740 and 1750, as he died in 1810 at the age of 60 or 70. He reigned, according to a MS. list of kings in my possession, 23 years (1787-1810), though Mr. Ellis states that his reign extended from 25 to 35 years. He was a man of great energy and force of character, and made a deep impression upon the minds of the people. Many anecdotes concerning him are current, some of which have been printed in Teny Sòa (magazine). A good account of him may be seen in Ellis's History of Madagascar, vol. II., pp. 122-128, or in Ny Tantàran' ny Andriana èio Madagascar by the Jesuit missionaries. The following speech is one of several which were preserved originally by tradition and committed to writing after the arrival of the first missionaries in 1820. Although speeches so transmitted cannot be relied on as being perfectly accurate, there seems little doubt that these are substantially correct. style of the one here translated differs much from any modern composition, and abounds in phrases and allusions that attest its age. I have tried in my translation to keep as near to the original as possible, even at the risk of making the English somewhat stiff; but of course the archaic colour of the original cannot easily be preserved in a translation. In several places I have departed from the printed text in favour of readings found in a MS. copy which came under my notice after the book of Kabary was printed, or have adopted changes suggested by natives. Some of the phrases of the

The

See Malagasy Kabàry (1873), pp. 1—13; and Mpanòlo-tsaina, vol. II., pp. 338-347.

original are hopelessly obscure, and the text cannot be considered free from corruption. Though this speech contains much that may interest any reader, I have been induced to try and translate it chiefly for the sake of those who, in the course of their Malagasy studies, will read the Kabary in the original, and who will, I hope, welcome this attempt to put into readable English what may perhaps be considered the most classical example of older Malagasy composition.

TH

TRANSLATION.

HE words spoken by Andrianampòinimèrina to Radama, and to his relations, and to all his friends, when he was very ill at Ambòhipò. There were present Andriamahèritsialaintàny, Andriankótonavàlona, Andriamàmbavòla, Andriantsíra, Ralàla, Rainimahày, Andrìanasòlo, Andriantsólo, and Andriantsiambazàha; all the men of weight were there, for all but "the twelve" were summoned to attend. But the words he was in the habit of saying continually to the "twelve" formed the substance of his speech.

"This is what I say to all of you, my relations and friends, for now symptoms of disease have come, for God is taking me away, and that is why I call you together. For now that the command of the Creator hath come, and my days are finished, and I am going home to heaven, behold Ilàhidàma, for he is young; and there too are yourselves; for it is only my flesh that will lie buried, but my spirit and my mind will still remain with you and with Idàma.

"First of all then, my comrades, behold Radama; for I did not beget him, but coughed him out of my mouth; and I did not intend that he should have our kingdom, but it has come to him as a gift from God; and, behold, I commit him to your care, therefore have an eye to him as he goes, and suffer him not to bear shame, lest we should be left without a successor, but offer a fàditra for him, and remove from him ill omens; for the offering of a faditra is powerful, and ill omens prevent from attaining manly strength. But yet I shall not be far off, but shall whisper to him wherever he may be.

“And in the second place, my comrades, this kingdom of ours had its boundaries fixed by the word of Andríamàsinavàlona, and was left by him with Andriantsimitòviàminandriana and Andriambèlomásina, and was left by the Twelve Sovereigns with me and with you, and is now left by me with you and Ilahidama; for to secure it I counted my life as nothing, and you exerted yourselves to the utmost; and behold here are all * Faditra, offerings to avert evil.