A WIDOW IN MADAGASCAR

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 2, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 27.

A WIDOW IN MADAGASCAR.

Upon the death of any man of position in Madagascar, the wife is dressed in all her best clothes, and covered with her silver ornaments. As soon as the family enter the house, they begin to revile her with most abusive language, telling her that she is virtually the cause of his death. Then they strip her of her clothes, tearing off with violence the ornaments. They give her a coarse cloth, a spoon with a broken handle with which to eat, and a dish with a foot broken off; her hair is disheveled, and she is covered up with a coarse mat, and under that she remains all day long, and she may not speak to any one who goes into the house. She is not allowed to wash her face or hands, but only the tips of her fingers. She endures all this sometimes for a year, or at least for eight months, and even when that is over, her time of mourning is not ended for a considerable period. She is not allowed to go home to her own relatives until she has been divorced by her husband's family.—Missionary Link.