At Saa, in the Solomon Islands, yams are offered, and the person offering them cries in a loud voice, "This is yours to eat" (Frazer, _G. B._^2, II, 465). In {181} the Society Islands the formula is, "Here, Tari, I have brought you something to eat" (_ib._, 469). In Indo-China, the invitation is the same: "Taste, O goddess, these first-fruits which have just been reaped" (_ib._, 325). There are no actually expressed words of thanks in these instances; but we may safely conjecture that the offerings are thank-offerings and that the feeling with which the offerings are made is one of gratitude and thankfulness. Thus in Ceram we are told that first-fruits are offered "as a token of gratitude" (_ib._, 463). On the Niger the Onitsha formula is explicit: "I thank God for being permitted to eat the new yam" (_ib._, 325). At Tjumba in the East Indies, "vessels filled with rice are presented as a thank-offering to the gods" (_ib._, 462). The people of Nias on these occasions offer thanks for the blessings bestowed on them (_ib._, 463). By a very natural transition of thought and feeling, thankfulness for past favours leads to prayer for the continuance of favour in the future. Thus in Tana, in the New Hebrides, the formula is: "Compassionate father! here is some food for you; eat it; be kind to us on account of it" (_ib._, 464); while the Basutos say: "Thank you, gods; give us bread to-morrow also" (_ib._, 459); and in Tonga the prayers {182} made at the offering of first-fruits implore the protection of the gods, and beseech them for welfare generally, though in especial for the fruits of the earth (_ib._, 466).