If the deity live beside a lake or river, the man or woman, after being stripped, and having the legs and arms securely fastened, is tied to a large stone and thrown into the lake or river. The crocodiles may seize the offering at once, but in any case death is the certain result, as the stone prevents the victim from swimming. The victims in such cases are usually slaves; but if a freeman were to set fire to the grass or reeds beside a lake, and cause a great conflagration close to the chosen abode of the deity, he is liable to be offered up to the god that is thus annoyed; but if he be the owner of many slaves he can easily redeem himself, one of his slaves will be offered instead, and something paid to the prophetess to facilitate the transaction. The vast immolations of human beings made at the grave of a chief we shall consider under another heading (32). CHAPTER V. CEREMONIES CONNECTED WITH DEATH. “Qualis vita Finis ita.” 29.—TRANSITION FROM THE SUPERNATURAL. We have now spoken of the gods—their nature and number—their prophets and priests, the occasions of their worship, and the nature of the offerings. This finishes what we have to say on the supernatural. Before descending to the natural, we shall cross the dark border-land that lies between. This border-land is Death (30-43). By and by we shall reach what we may call the Natural (44 and seq.) By the time we reach section 103 we shall have brought before the reader many things that he may class as the Unnatural. To shew that there is nothing so very unusual among these African tribes, let us remark that in that model of ancient civilisation—the Roman Republic—prisoners were slain at the tombs of heroes that fell in battle, and slaves were sacrificed at the funerals of all rich people. The advance of civilisation allowed such victims to kill each other, when the custom gave rise to the exhibition of gladiators. 30.—ILLNESS. We have seen already (19) that a sick man may be removed from his village to a solitary hut in the fields, and that he may return in good health; but very often when a man leaves his village for this solitude he never comes back. We have mentioned that the diviner or oracle-man may be able to cope with the witch who is the main cause of the man’s illness, but very often the diviner fails entirely, and the disease takes its course. There is another man, the herbalist or physician (jua sing’anga) that is often called in, and to whom we have already alluded; he carries on his cures by the use of charms, which in many cases are really medicines (I). When a person is sick his friends go in search of a physician.