202 THE ORATORY, SONGS, LEGENDS AND
my Great African Island, shewing the relative positions of the principal tribes of the Malagasy. It must be remembered that the island, although about four times as large as England and Wales, has only about four to five millions of inhabitants; so that a considerable extent of country is either uninhabited, or has only a very scanty population, and the territory occupied by the different tribes is often separated from the others by unoccupied regions.
The most favourite and interesting, as well as the longest, Malagasy folk-tale, is that of Ibonia, or, as the name is given in some of the variants of the story, Andrian-ari-saina-bonia maso-bonia-manoro. Of this tale Mr. Richardson says, "It could with a little 'padding,' and the additions contained in our various renderings, be lengthened out into a good-sized three-volume novel, so many are the incidents and dramatis personæ; while the most concise form of it (18 pp.) is that published in the first number of the [Malagasy] Folk-Lore Society's Publications, and obtained by the writer [Mr. R.] from a teacher in the London Missionary Society's Normal School. Its length and wealth of incident certainly establish its claim for a lirst place in all notices of the Malagasy tales."
THE WAY IN WHICH ANDRIANORO OBTAINED A WIFE FROM HEAVEN.
(The following was obtained from Vakin-Ankaratra.)
Once upon a time there was, it is said, a man named Adriambahoaka-in-the-midst-of-the-land, and this man had three children — one son and two daughters. The son's name was Andrianoro, and those of his two sisters, Ramatoa and Rafaravavy.* Andriambahoaka was rich and had large estates, and these two daughters of his were unmarried. Then said the son named Andrianoro to his father and mother, "Get me a wife, oh daddy and mammy." So his parents agreed to obtain a wife for their son. But when they had fetched the wife for Andrianoro, he could by no means like her. So his father said, "We will no more fetch a wife for you; you yourself shall choose whom you like." And after some time, so the story goes, some one spoke to Andrianoro and said, "There is a most enchanting
- These are not strictly proper names, but are rather words denoting the eldest and youngest daughters in a family. The latter, however, is frequently retained as a proper name.
