GEORGE.  “If the palace be so homely, what can the poor folks’ houses be like?”

MR. WILTON.  “Oh! they are of wood too, but mere huts; they have no chimneys, and the door and window affording the only means of escape for the smoke arising from the fires, which are kindled on the floor of the house, the soot collects on the inner side of the roofs of their dwellings, where it is never disturbed by the people, who consider it a badge of honorable ancestry to have large quantities of soot hanging in long black shreds from the roof of their dwelling.”

EMMA.  “What a dirty badge!  Are they dirty people?”

MR. STANLEY.  “They are not exactly dirty, but very slothful; and when not compelled to exert themselves in husbandry or war, they pass their time in sleep.  They have little thought for the morrow; and, in fact, seem to be a thoroughly contented happy race; and so they ought to be, in one sense, for they are surrounded by every comfort, and even luxury, which the hand of nature can produce.  Their characteristic feature is simplicity; and they regard the example of their forefathers as authority for every action.”

DORA.  “They are Christians, I believe?”

MRS. WILTON.  “I wish I could say they are, my dear Dora.  Some Christians there certainly are in Madagascar; but the majority are ruled by superstition.  They acknowledge one only true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and the Supreme Ruler of the universe, and they call him ‘Ungharry,’ or ‘Zanhare,’ which signify the ‘Highest God,’ or ‘God above.’  They believe him to possess infinite power; but they consider him too great a being to condescend to attend to the concerns of mortals:  they therefore suppose that four inferior spirits are appointed, to whom are delegated the affairs of the world.  These are denominated the Lords of the North, South, East, and West.  The East is supposed to be the dispenser of plagues and miseries to mankind, by the command of the Great God.  The other three are employed in the dispensation of benefits.  Besides this, they have faith in a world of spirits, and believe that every family has its guardian angel, which is generally supposed to be the soul of a particular ancestor; and, strangely enough, although they believe in the immortality of the soul, they deny that there can be a future punishment, or that the soul can suffer evil after its separation from the body; but they assert that bad men will be punished in this world by a complication of misfortunes, and that the good will be rewarded by health, constancy of friends, increase of fortune, and obedience of children.”