Evidently he knew the man's name, for I heard him say: "O Babemba, the white lords, Macumazana and Wazela, ask if you will share their holy drink with them ?" I could perfectly understand the words, for these people spoke a dialect so akin to Zulu that by now it had no difficulty for me.
"Their holy drink!" exclaimed the old fellow, starting back.

"Man, it is hot red-water.

Would these white wizards poison me with _mwavi_ ?" Here I should explain that _mwavi_ or _mkasa_, as it is sometimes called, is the liquor distilled from the inner bark of a sort of mimosa tree or sometimes from a root of the strychnos tribe, which is administered by the witch-doctors to persons accused of crime.

If it makes them sick they are declared innocent.

If they are thrown into convulsions or stupor they are clearly guilty and die, either from the effects of the poison or afterwards by other means.
"This is no _mwavi_, O Babemba," said Jerry.