A large quantity of beer is brewed, and as soon as it is ready the chief and all his visitors go to the verandah of the house of the deceased chief, where all larger offerings are presented. They carry flour and beer, and perhaps some such offering as tobacco. The chief is the first to invoke the spirit saying, “Please, please, Ching’ombe,” or whatever the name may be, “here is beer for you, drink it, we want to live well at our village, and to drink in peace”. He will mention also the happy circumstances connected with the expedition, and hint mildly that when another expedition is necessary they will look for a similar service from the spirit. The sister of the deceased chief will also be an offerer, and any others who may be closely related. They first put down a little offering of flour, and then each takes a cup of beer to pour on the ground as a libation. After the others have presented their offerings the chief finishes the worship by presenting all that is left. Many guests may be invited. Any that happen to arrive before the offering has been given will accompany the party that goes to present it. All in the village may be present at this offering. It is a kind of public worship. Whatever may be the rank of his guests it is the village chief himself that acts as high priest. Even the chief of the whole country if present would only stand and look on. As soon as the offering is finished, the beer drinking begins. Great is the rejoicing in the village. If an expedition were unsuccessful, if, for instance, some one died or goods were lost, instead of this rejoicing there would be a mourning. The god would be considered to have deceived them, and behaved very badly. After the expedition has been the occasion of a public rejoicing, the god is acquitted of all blame. Yet, strange to say, many successful expeditions of this kind—especially when they have been to the coast with slaves and ivory—are the most unfortunate things that could happen to a district. Soon after the beer drinking is over, the goods have to be divided, and in a large proportion of cases so great contentions arise that the chiefs kingdom is divided also. Other occasions for approaching the gods occur in cases of sickness (19) or famine (20). On these we shall not dwell so long, as the foregoing principles generally apply. 19.—SICKNESS.