The last travels of Ida Pfeiffer by Ida Pfeiffer

Author:Ida Pfeiffer [Pfeiffer, Ida]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781373136473
Google: HToWvgAACAAJ
Publisher: Bibliolife DBA of Bibilio Bazaar II LLC
Published: 2016-08-28T00:47:48+00:00

CHAPTER X.

The “Queen’s Bath.”—Soldiers and Officers.—Banquet and Ball.—Departure from Tamatavé.—Second Visit to Antandroroko.—Vovong.—The Fever.—Andororanto.—Land and Cultivation.—Condition of the People.—Manambotre.—The bad Roads and the Bearers.—Ambatoarana.

At length, on the 13th of May, Mr. Lambert arrived. On the 15th I witnessed the preliminary celebration of the great bath-feast of the queen. This is the only national feast in Madagascar, and it is kept with great solemnity in all the dominions subject to the sceptre of Ranavola.

I did not see the great feast itself, and can therefore only repeat to my readers the description I received from several eye-witnesses. It is celebrated on the first day of every year, and may thus be called the New-year’s feast of Madagascar. But the Malagaseys do not follow our method of reckoning time, though they divide the year into twelve months as we do. Each of their months is lunar, and when the moon has renewed itself twelve times their year is past.

On the eve of the feast, all the high officers, nobles, and chiefs appear at court, invited by the queen. They assemble in a great hall, and presently a dish of rice is carried round, each guest taking a pinch in his fingers and eating it. That is the whole extent of the ceremony on this first evening.

Next morning the same company assemble in the same hall. As soon as they have all met, the queen steps behind a curtain which hangs in a corner of the room, undresses, and has water thrown over her. As soon as she has been dressed again, she steps forward, holding in her hand an ox-horn filled with the water that has been poured over her. Part of this water she sprinkles over the assembled company. Then she betakes herself to a gallery overlooking the court-yard of the palace, and pours the rest over the military drawn up there on parade.

On this auspicious day nothing is seen throughout the whole country but feasting, dancing, singing, and rejoicing, continued till late at night. The celebration is kept up for eight days, dating from the day of the bath. It is the custom for people to kill as many oxen on the first day as they contemplate consuming during the other seven: whoever possesses any oxen at all, kills at least one at this feast. The poor people get pieces of meat in exchange for rice, sweet potatoes, tobacco, etc. The meat is still tolerably fresh on the eighth day. It is cut into long thin strips, which are salted and laid one upon the other. The preliminary celebration of the feast occurs a week earlier, and consists of military processions. The votaries of pleasure then begin their feast, and thus have a fortnight’s jollity—a week before the feast, and a week after.

The soldiers whom I saw in the processions at Tamatavé pleased me well enough. They went through their drill and manœuvres with tolerable accuracy, and, contrary to my expectation, I found the music not only endurable, but positively harmonious.

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