The subject of offerings to the spirit, which are sometimes made at the grave, has been discussed in a former chapter. As there stated, they are more usually presented elsewhere, unless the deceased has been buried inside his own house. But, though avoided by the relations, the grave is held sacred, and lawsuits may arise out of its desecration. One of the worst acts of sacrilege that can be committed—in fact, an act amounting to social suicide—is ‘to break a pot at the grave of some family not your own ... the offender’s life is forfeited, and he lives only as the slave of the grave-owners till redeemed.’ The next step after the burial is to destroy the house occupied by the deceased. It is burned or pulled down, and the foundation dug over. The thatch and other things are carried away and burned at the cross-roads, and what is not burned is buried; the site is swept all over, and fresh earth spread on it. Children are warned not to play there. ‘A pot is put down to receive offerings of beer, and when any special offering is given to the deceased, it is usually presented here. If this place become too public (as when children play near and send dust into the pot), the pot will be removed and placed under a tree at a little distance from the village.’ If the man is buried in his own house, as is sometimes done with chiefs, it is not taken down, but shut up and left to decay. A large part of the dead man’s stock of calico is draped over the roof, and offerings are presented under the verandah. A local head-man named Matope died near Blantyre in 1893, and the white roof of his hut was a landmark visible for miles throughout the following year. In such cases, a hole is first dug in the floor, then a niche is made in the side of the hole. The position of this niche is carefully concealed from all except those immediately concerned, and no two graves of this kind have it in the same place. On the day when the house is taken down, the mourners, in some cases, have their heads shaved, and some of the hair is buried on the site of the house. This is only where there are _two_ shavings; where there is only one, the hair is allowed to grow till the end of the mourning. It is thought that the hair which the deceased has seen must not remain after he is buried, or at any rate after the subsequent ceremonies are finished.