To leave out the _O!_ is for the greeting and response to lack cordiality, and the emphasis on the _O!_ and the tone in which it is uttered are indicative of the feeling those greeting one another have for each other. _Bwanda_ is the word used in greeting a superior, and the answer is _Bika_ (these words have lost their meaning); but a superior greets an equal with the same salutations as an inferior does an equal, i.e.: _Ojali O!_ _Obimi O!_ _Oy’ oni O!_ etc. There is another salutation used by a person to an equal, the answer to which is very various; and, in fact, every person has his own reply according to his circumstances and the way in which he thinks his neighbours regard him at the time. One man greets another by saying, _Losako_, Blessing on you; and he replies, _Ngai nkumbaku_, I am one who is cursed, i.e. the people in the town are always cursing him, or he fancies they are. Or the reply may be, _Bansina_, They hate me, i.e. the folk in the town do not like him; or _Ngai nsu ya mai_, I am a fish, i.e. Everybody likes me just as everybody likes fish; or, _Nakalela bana ba ngai_, I am weeping for my children, said by one mourning over some great misfortune or bereavement. A vain person arrogates to himself a phrase indicative of his egotism, while a despondent one uses a sentence that does not truly reflect the attitude of his neighbours towards him, although in his humility he may think so. There is a curious saying after one has sneezed, viz. _Ngai nya, motu mosusu_, “It is not I, but someone else,” and this is accompanied by a vigorous clapping of the hands and snapping of the fingers, expressive of great astonishment. It means: I am surprised that you want to call away my spirit (the spirit is supposed to escape through the nostrils), I really am not the person you think I am, but somebody else. The natives are fond of water, and bath frequently during a hot day; and children are bathed regularly twice a day. A mother takes her infant to the river, and, gripping it tightly just under the right armpit, she dips it beneath the water. And after holding it there many moments, she will lift it out, and just as it regains its breath to start crying, down it will go again. This is repeated about a dozen times, and then rubbing the superfluous water off with the palm of her hand, she holds it out in the sun for a few moments to dry. Riverine people can remain under the water for a long time while attending their fish-nets, and this habit they have gained from those infantile experiences, when it was either holding the breath, or drinking a quantity of dirty river water.