Where are these gods found? At the grave? No. The villagers shrink from yonder gloomy place that lies far beyond their fields on the bleak mountain side. It is only when they have to lay another sleeper beside his forefathers that they will go there. Their god is not the body in the grave, but the spirit, and they seek this spirit at the place where their departed kinsman last lived among them. It is the great tree at the verandah (_kwipenu_) of the dead man’s house that is their temple, and if no tree grow here they erect a little shade, and there perform their simple rites. If this spot become too public the offerings may be denied (40), and the sanctuary will be removed to a carefully-selected spot under some beautiful tree. Very frequently a man presents an offering at the top of his own bed beside his head. He wishes his god to come to him and whisper in his ear as he sleeps. These gods are not confined to one place. In answer to prayer they can protect a man during a long journey, and return with him in peace. When all the villagers are driven from their homes by war these spirits have power to go with them to a new village. The spirit of an old chief may have a whole mountain for his residence, but he dwells chiefly on the cloudy summit. There he sits to receive the worship of his votaries, and to send down the refreshing showers in answer to their prayers. 5.—HOW THE GODS GIVE EVIDENCE OF THEIR EXISTENCE. How do the natives know that these gods attend to them? How do they judge that their deceased ancestors can see them through the darkness of the grave? (1) They judge from the way in which prayers have been answered. If they pray for a successful hunting expedition and return laden with venison or ivory, they know that it is their old relative that has done it, and they give him a thank offering. If the hunting party get nothing, they may say “the spirit has been sulky with us” (_akwete lupuso_), and refuse the thank-offering. (2) Besides this, their god appears to them in dreams. They may see him as they knew him in days gone by. When they dream of the living there is nothing wonderful in that; but when they dream of the dead it is the departed spirit come to visit them. Such a dream impresses them very much. That being is altogether different since he entered the spirit world. Now he is a god with power to watch over them, and help them, and control their destiny. (3) The appearance of the gods in dreams is still too hazy. Their craving for clearer manifestations of the deity is satisfied through the prophetess (_juakuweweta_). She may be the principal wife of the chief; in some cases a woman without a husband will be set apart for the god. The god comes to her with his commands at night. She delivers the message in a kind of ecstacy. She speaks (as her name implies) with the utterance of a person raving with excitement. During the night of the communication her ravings are heard sounding all over the village in a high key.