5.How as to his lands?
The ancestral lands of Ratsida
Are grown over with weeds;
No longer a meeting-place,
For he is dead in the war!
6.How as to his tomb?
The tomb of Ratsida
Its hope disappointed,[1]
Unentered by the weary,
For he is cut off in the war!
7.How as to his slaves?
The slaves of Ratsida
Expect to be scattered,
Gone to a child who inherits;
Mouldering on the field he who gathered them!
8.How as to his superior?
The lord of Ratsida
Laments in his heart,
Dead his servant beloved.
Killed by a gun in the war!
9.Who then is to blame?
No blame to his superiors,
For his short time of service.
The sport of gun and spear.
His corpse lost in the war!
10.'Twas the lot of Ratsida:
To be killed on his way,
To be food for the birds.
To be a meal for the ants;
Alas! he was prey to ill-fortune!
The following description of the burial customs and chants of the Sihànaka tribe is translated from the account given by an intelligent young Hova evangelist who lived among them for three years (1867—1870):—
"Their customs when watching a corpse are as follows: A number of women, both young and old, sit in the house containing the corpse, and the chief mourners weep, but the rest sing and beat drums. There is no cessation in the funeral customs and singing day or night until the burial, although that sometimes does not take place for a
- ↑ Here the tomb seems to be personified, and is represented as lamenting the absence of its proper occupant.
