The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

464 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA.Hoforo the general acceptance of Chiistianity, he bore the title of " Visible God,"but now he is content to claim supreme power " by the grace of God and the willof the people." Formerly he was the high priest of the nation, offered yearlysacrifices to secure the happiness of his people, and iu return received from themthe first-fruits of the soil. At his accession the courtiers took the " oath of thecalf " —that is, after sacrificing one of these animals, they swore by the swordsburied in its body that the same fate should overtake themselves whenever disloyalto their sovereign. His name, his image, all objects touched by him, are equallysacred ;he alone has a right to the red umbrella, and, as in other Malay languages,a special form of speech is reserved for the ruler. Terror precedes and followsliim, and the highest in the land obey in silence at sight of the " silver assegai"held up by an attendant.Till recently officers doomed to death were invited to abanquet, where, after the feast, they drank the poisoned cup with acclamations inhonour of the sender. Condemned nobles received an iron rod, with orders tovoluntarily impale themselves ; others were required to plunge into quagmires,where they disappeared in the mud ; while some were burnt alive. But except inthe case of slaves and the lower orders, care was taken to shed no blood, as aconvincing proof of the royal clemency.Being omnipotent in principle, the king or the queen, overflowing with the" wisdom of the twelve kings " —that is, of all their ancestry—choose their ownsuccessors. Nevertheless, they do not escape from the court intrigues, and atpresent the real authority resides in the Prime Minister, husband of the Queen,and a sort of mayor of the palace. Other ministers are named by him, and allhave to obey his orders. Even the dignitaries assembled in the kabari, or " greatcouncil," do little more than listen to the speech from the throne and signify theirapproval.On grand occasions, when all the tribes with their chiefs are assembledaccording to the old feudal right, the minister addresses the multitude, whichnever fails to give its assent to_ his propositions.The andriana, or baronial class, being stationed nearest to the palace andconsequently more easily controlled than others, enjoy the least measure of freedom,and cannot even withdraw from the capital except on some special mission. Butthe old divisions into nobles, citizens, and slaves are being gradually replaced bythe social classification according to " honours," which is at once civil and military.The " first honour " is that of the simple soldier ; but from this it is possible topass through all the intermediate grades up to the sixteenth, the highest rank inthe social system.The trade in spirits has by recent enactments been prohibited throughoutImerina, and 4,500 officials have been appointed to enforce the royal decrees, tokeep the civil registers, and conduct the regular transfer of propertj'. A penalcode, far less rigorous than the old "common law," has been proclaimed, andhenceforth the sentence of death is rarely inflicted. The army of " a hundredthousand men," although really comprising not more than thirty thousand, isrecruited by a sort of conscription, the men being disbanded after five years'service.