Besides, there might be a god of the land. The chief Kapeni prays to his own relatives, and also to the old gods of the place. His own relatives he approaches himself, the other deities he may also approach himself, but he often finds people more closely related, and consequently more acceptable (7) to the old gods of the land. 9.—MONOTHEISM, POLYTHEISM, OR PANTHEISM? After we have settled that there is an object of worship, there are still a great many different positions to hold. We might be Pantheists, Polytheists, or Monotheists. The position of Pantheism is seldom indicated by natives when describing their religion. We once thought that the class of nouns (in the native language) that _Mulungu_ belongs to was an argument in favour of their Pantheism. One class of native nouns is nearly co-extensive with human beings, and Mulungu is not in this class. But the argument at best is weak. While Mulungu means a spirit, it may also be used as a proper name. There are two classes of expressions where it is used as a proper name. The first class points to a kind of Pantheism. Mulungu is said to be “the great spirit (msimu) of all men, a spirit formed by adding all the departed spirits together”. These and various other expressions of the same kind indicate a grasping after a being who is the totality of all individual existence, and are not unworthy of notice. If they fell from the lips of civilised men instead of savages they would be regarded as philosophy. Expressions of this kind among the natives are partly traditional, and partly dictated by the big thoughts of the moment. The second class of expressions where we have Mulungu used as a proper name certainly points to a personal being. By the Wayao he is sometimes said to be the same as Mtanga (12). At other times he is a Being that possesses many powerful servants; but is himself kept a good deal beyond the scene of earthly affairs, like the gods of Epicurus. In the native hypotheses about creation “the people of Mulungu” (wa ku Mulungu) play a very important part. This Mulungu in the spiritual world—the world beyond the grave—is represented as assigning to spirits their various places. He arranges them in rows or tiers. After making an induction of all that we have heard about Mulungu (carefully excluding, of course, every statement that seemed to be in the least modified by Christian teaching), we should say that their religion in its worship was practically Polytheism. At the same time the spirits are often asked to act as mediators with some higher being. Beyond their Polytheism their language contains a few expressions that remind us of Pantheism, and a great many that speak to us of Monotheism.