But the native beer does not produce such serious consequences, although many fights and wars arise out of it. One must drink a great deal before it intoxicates, and by the time a man has consumed half a barrel of gruel he will be more inclined to sleep than to quarrel. Should he simply talk nonsense, his more sober friends pay little attention to him. At a great beer-drinking the guests may lie down and sleep where they were drinking. What do the natives think of the crime of drunkenness? When asked, “Do you say a man has a bad heart if he gets drunk on beer?” they reply “No; he may not have a bad heart”. But on further questioning they insist that such a man has certainly “a very bad head!” 24.—BEER AS AN OFFERING. We have seen how the flour is used, both as an offering and as a sort of oracle according to the way in which it falls—according as it forms a cone or not. The beer may be used in the same way, both as offering and oracle. If when poured on the ground it sink into one spot as it would do in sandy soil, then the deity receives it, but if it spread over the ground there is a bad omen. Beer-drinkings may be held on the conclusion of favourable journeys and on many other occasions. Besides there may be beer drinking without any special reason, as when a man wants to treat his friends: but even in this case there is an offering. As soon as the beer is ready the man goes to the village chief and carries some with him. The village chief presents this offering to the village god. There is no special prayer, except “I want that my beer may be sweet”. After the village chief comes back from the offering he drinks some of the beer himself, and declares the feast open. Among others the custom is simply for the brewer of beer himself to put down a little in his own house, with a prayer to the spirit that his beer may be sweet. 25.—SPECIAL OFFERINGS. All the offerings are supposed to point to some wants of the spirit. If a spirit were to come saying, “I want calico,” his friends would “just say that he was mad,” and would not give it. “Why should he want calico? What would he do with it? There was calico buried with him when he died, and he cannot need more again.” But if the request is at all reasonable (as when an old hunter asks animal food), it will be quickly attended to, and personal taste carefully consulted. In cases of this kind they may anticipate his wishes. When a deceased smoker wants tobacco his worshippers put it on a plate and set fire to it. If a spirit ask a house they will build him one. It is a general rule that these special offerings are in answer to special requests, and such special requests are made known either by the oracle (chisango), or by dreams, or by the prophetess. The requests of a more serious character, involving the sacrifice of human beings, are made known chiefly through the prophetess (5, 3).