CHAPTER IV

MISCELLANEOUS MAGICAL PRACTICES

Rain Magic (Ukamba).—The Kamba have no medicine men who specialise in rain-making, and in times of drought they pray and sacrifice at the ithembo, or local shrine, in the manner already described. Some people, however, pretend that by means of a certain medicine they can make rain pass by and not fall at a particular place. The ingredients of this are kept very secret and are only known to a few people. It is a black powder and is placed in the palm of the hand and blown in the direction of the rain storm. Some is also placed in the horn of an antelope and stuck in a tree. It is addressed as follows: “You are now a man and are placed here to keep the rain away; if you fail you stay out here in the rain and I will not take you back into the house, but throw you away into the bush.”

Presumably the concept is that by these means a human, or perhaps anthropomorphic spirit, having the power of averting rain, is bottled up in the horn by the potent medicine, or it may be that the spirit is supposed to be in the medicine itself. It is a pity we do not know what the medicine is composed of, as the reasoning might be the easier to follow.

Burglar’s Magic.—In the author’s “Ethnology of A-Kamba” an example of this in connection with the Machakos district was given—p. 95. The same kind of thing is evidently practised in Kitui, where it is said that a thief will sometimes obtain medicine from a magician and rub it on a stone. He then goes to a village at night and throws it on to the thatch of a hut. It is stated that he then probably waits till he hears the people say: “Let us sleep.” He presently enters the hut and goes to the owner and says: “I have come for a cow which I am going to take away.” The owner is apparently hypnotised and unable to refuse, for he answers: “Take such and such a one,” and the people go on sleeping till late the next morning. A neighbour calls at the village early next day, and is surprised to find the door of the hut and of the cattle kraal open, one or two cattle missing, and the people still asleep.

Women often fashion little clay images of men and hang them up in their gardens to frighten youngsters who go there to pilfer the crops; the children believe that if they take anything they will be stricken with a thabu. The elders, however, declare that such charms are only a sham, as the women do not really wish to harm the children, but only to scare them.

Hunter’s Magic.—If a Kamba hunter shoots a very fat beast he must not take snuff while he is skinning it or he will be seized with diarrhœa.

Elephant hunters often carry a medicine called ngatho, of which a little is placed on each arrow before it is shot at an elephant; it is carried in a hollow reed in the hunter’s quiver. The hunter must not eat or touch mutton before he returns from hunting or this medicine will prove ineffective. The medicine man who concocts the medicine places it in the quiver of the hunter with his own hands, and the quiver must not be opened till the hunter is in the presence of the elephants. Hunters often carry another medicine called “nzebi,” which, if blown in the direction of game, prevents it from seeing the hunter.

In Kitui, if a man has made his preparations to go on a hunting expedition, he must not cohabit with his wife the night before he starts.

If there is a new-comer in a hunting party and an elephant is killed, the leader of the party will cut off the trunk and breasts of the beast before the new-comer comes up, and hide them in the bush. It is said that if this is not done the new-comer might joke about the peculiar appearance of these parts and in so doing turn their luck so that no other elephant would be killed. The elephant spirit would evidently be annoyed.

An officer, some time ago, shot an elephant in Kitui, and two of the natives who accompanied him came up and asked if they might perform their ceremony, the object of which was to bring him much luck and good sport. He agreed, and a goat was killed and some of the blood collected; one of the men tasted a little of the blood, and then each of them took a little in his mouth and ejected a few drops on the tusks of the dead elephant, the remainder being poured out as a libation.

The leader or leaders of the hunting party who are termed A-thiani in Ukamba and Tha-mati in Kikuyu can alone eat the trunk of an elephant.

When the hunting party returns it is the duty of the leader to sacrifice an ox and brew some beer; the blood of the ox and the beer are mixed and poured out in the village as a libation of thanksgiving.

The same ceremony is observed after the sale of the ivory.

A man who organises successful hunts, or proves himself a good leader of caravans to the coast, obtains great honour among his people.

Charms.—The Kikuyu people sometimes place a human skull in a tree in a garden to prevent people from stealing; it is not quite certain whether this is believed to have any magic power. They also place the clay tuyéres from a smith’s furnace in trees to protect gardens; in this case they are probably trading on the dreaded magic powers of the smiths.

The horns of the first ox presented to a man by the father or his son-in-law are not thrown away, but placed on the roof of the hut of his principal wife. The significance of this is not very clear; it may be done merely to commemorate the event, but in these matters it is never safe to jump to conclusions.

The following observation in Kikuyu may be classed among magical procedure. A man was sued for return of some cattle which he was obliged to return. On doing so, he pulled out a few hairs from the animals’ tails. It appears that when certain medicine is made in the village the owner has only to pull out a few tail hairs from a beast and it will always return to his village.

Occasionally in a Kikuyu village the vertebra of an ox may be seen transfixed on the stick which surmounts a grain hut. This is a charm to keep butterflies away from the village, as it is believed that these insects carry sickness to the goats and sheep.

Fear of old Women.—Old women in Kikuyu are much feared, particularly those who are blind, toothless, and decrepit; they are often believed to possess magic power. When meeting them, it is safer to pass by or to speak to them pleasantly. If they are annoyed they may bring all sorts of ill luck. Being bothered one day by a number of very old women, Chief Marraro and his elders were asked to send them away, but were afraid to tell them to go, and even many of the police dared not talk to them.

Knots, etc.—When a Kikuyu warrior goes to war he ties knots in the grass on the way, so that he may find his enemy sleepy. Or again, if he is going to visit anyone he does the same in order that he may find his friend at home.

If a man is at war, it is bad for the wife to make string for a food bag (chondo); it is probably believed that the twisting of string would have the same deleterious effect as the tying of a knot is supposed to have on certain occasions. Further, the wife must not sweep out the hut while her husband is away with a war party.

A zebra was shot by the writer some time ago in Kitui, and when the meat was brought to camp a Kamba was observed to tie a knot in the hair of the tail; the reason given for this was that zebras being rather subject to diarrhœa, it was a good thing to tie a knot in the tail, as the persons who eat the meat would then not be likely to suffer from this complaint.

In Kitui, also, if two men are starting on a cattle trading expedition and one gets ahead of the other the one who is delayed plants a stick in the ground and ties grass to it, this being supposed to delay the first man, and, the other passing him, will then be able to sell his cattle first and therefore at a better price.

War Medicine (Kikuyu).—Before a young warrior departs on an expedition, the father goes to a medicine man and obtains some medicine called njeku and smears it on his son’s shield, the object of this being to protect him from the weapons of his enemies. It is said that sometimes the medicine man, out of spite, supplies bad medicine and the warrior will then be killed. This alternative is no doubt the explanation of casualties, and it would be interesting to know how the medicine man defends himself from the accusation of having supplied the wrong medicine.

If a man collects the saliva of an enemy and takes it away to a medicine man (murogi) who makes suitable medicine of it, the owner becomes afflicted with a bad throat.

A wife must not sleep away from her village while her husband is on a journey, nor bring a male friend to the village; she may shave her head in his absence, although this is barred among some tribes.

Magical Remedies for Sterility.—Among the A-Kamba of Ulu there are various remedies for barrenness in women. The husband consults a medicine man, who casts lots, “piga mbau” to find out which of the various remedies must be adopted. When the proper kind of remedy has been discovered, the husband takes his wife to the discoverer of the remedy (ngnondu), who administers it.

Various remedies are in vogue, viz:

(1) A piece of the trunk of the mumo tree is cut out and bound in the woman’s bead loin band. (2) One of the yellow fruits of a common wild weed is bound in the loin band. It is called baringo, and is probably a Solanum. (3) A goat is led round the woman seven times, and the aiimu are promised a goat if she proves fertile. (4) A goat or fowl is killed. Its blood is poured on the woman’s head till it trickles down her back and breast. She is thus supposed to derive new blood. (5) The leather tails of her loin cloth are knotted.

Medicine is also made from the following:

(1) Two twigs of the mukengesia tree. (2) One twig of the musumsuyia tree.

A branch of mulali tree sufficiently long to go round the woman’s waist is then cut.

The woman’s loin skin apron is cut into two pieces, and a knot is tied in one of them.

The mulali branch is then passed round her waist and tied into a knot.

The twigs 1 and 2 are then placed to the woman’s lips, and she bites some of them and spits out the pieces three times. Part of this is taken and thrown on a main road for passers-by to tread on. The rest is taken by the husband, who walks in front of the woman, dropping it for her to tread on as far as the village. Water in a nzele, or half gourd, is then drawn by the husband, and all the men and women of the village rinse their hands in it. A goat, given by the husband, is made to drink the water in the nzele; it is then killed, and the chest is taken and eaten by husband and wife. The husband does not cohabit with his wife till the second night after the ceremony.

Among the Kikuyu if a married woman does not prove fertile a medicine man takes her to a mukeo, mukenyia, or muthakwa tree, and there suffocates a mwati (a young ewe which has not yet borne a kid); the elders of the husband’s clan take the small intestine of the mwati and twine it around the woman and the tree, the intestine being then cut through with a sharp splinter of wood. The ceremony concludes with the anointing of the woman on the forehead with castor oil, and some fat from the carcase of the mwati is melted and poured out at the foot of the tree.

It was impossible to discover the exact significance of this ceremony; it may be a form of so-called tree marriage, a ceremony by which presumably the fertility of the tree can be given to the woman.

Inoculation Against Snake Bites.—Although these observations are classified under the heading of magic, it is not at all clear whether the procedure adopted is based on the knowledge of prophylactic or antiseptic drugs. The subject is worthy of professional investigation by a trained pathologist.

The author is indebted to Mr G. H. Osborne for the description of the process of inoculation for snake bites which took place in his presence at Machakos in Ukamba.

The practitioner was a young man of some twenty-five years of age, Waita wa Mathendu by name; the patient a boy of about sixteen, called Kaboyi wa Kimoino—both natives of the Iveti Hills. At the writer’s request the native doctor brought specimens of the medicinal plants. They consisted of:

(1) A branch of a shrub called musobi (Kikamba). This has a leaf measuring about two inches in length, bright green on the top and a lighter shade below; the edges are serrated but not sharp, and the whole leaf has a velvety feel to the touch. It bears a fruit which is red when ripe and which is eaten by the A-Kamba. It is also used as medicine for colds in the head.

(2) Two branches of a shrub called mthingii. The leaves appear to grow on a single stem, and are composed of some six petals on either side of the leaf stem. The leaf, full grown, measures about one and a half inches by three quarters. In the case of the first, a piece of the stem as it stands in the ground is lightly scraped three times with a knife. In the case of the second, grains of mtama grain are thrown three times to strike the bush.

Both are then completely dug up by the roots, and the two roots, the stems and leaves, are put on the fire without water and dried completely. These are the vegetable ingredients of the medicine.

The animal ingredients are:

(1) The heads of various kinds of snakes. When a medicine man captures a snake he takes it by the neck in his right hand and passes its tail three times around and behind his waist with the left hand, like a belt, the third time passing its head to his left hand, which is grasping the tail, and then clasping neck and tail in the left hand and holding it out from his body. He makes three gashes with a knife on the back of the snake’s head, just above the neck, at the same time making a gash in the back of his left hand, which is holding the snake’s head and tail. He then takes some of the blood from the gash on the back of his hand and smears it with his knife point in each of the gashes in the snake’s neck. The snake dies after the man’s blood has been smeared on the gashes, and its head is then severed below the gashes and put into the nzele with the vegetable ingredients. These are then pounded up till the mixture becomes a pitch-like substance. It is put back on the fire until thoroughly dried, when it is ground up into a powder varying from dark grey to black in colour.

The medicine is now ready for use and is placed in its several receptacles. The vegetable ingredients are always the same, but as each kind of snake is treated, each vessel holds a different kind of medicine. On this occasion the doctor had only three snakes fastened up in a gourd with air holes bored into it. Before explaining the initial process he took them out and put the first round his neck and the second on his lap, where it lay diversifying its position by coiling round his arm.

The snakes brought for inspection were:

(1) Ndau (female).—About eighteen inches long, dark green on the back and light green underneath. It both spits and bites, and lives mostly in trees. Its darts are very rapid.

(2) Syomelule (female).—A dark grey colour on the back and light grey to light yellow below; the pattern appeared to be almost in squares. It was about two feet long and had not digested a mouse which had got half-way down. It is said to be a tree snake; it both spits and strikes, and after striking sticks on to the bitten part.

(3) Kiko (male).—Marked like a puff adder, black, with a broad flat head. Unfortunately this one had had a slight difference with the second snake, which had struck and killed it on the way to the station. It was in the bottom of the gourd and was not visible. It is said to lie on the road, shamming death, and rearing suddenly, to strike at the thigh. The larger ones also spit, and are especially dangerous to people drawing water.

There were in all seven small gourds of powder, each containing a mixture of the vegetable ingredient and a different kind of snake. In addition to the three snakes above mentioned the gourds contained the powder made from four other kinds of snakes:

(4) Nguluku.—Said to be a small, reddish, whip-like snake of which larger specimens have also been found living near streams; their bite is very deadly.

(5) Kimbuba (Swahili Bafu).—Puff adder.

(6) Kisilu.—A very black snake seldom leaving its hole in the daytime.

(7) Yaitha.—A tree snake which is very fond of taking up its residence in large birds’ nests. It darts down on the passer-by from a tree, strikes the head, and then retires again to the tree. In 1907, one of them lived in a tree on the road to Mumoni, not far from Gai, and killed two people in a short time. The District Commissioner was asked to kill it, but two Kamba went out together and one of them killed it as it tried to strike the other. This is probably a Dendraspis. The doctor takes the skin of the patient’s upper palm, just below the knuckle of the finger and thumb, and cuts three small gashes in the skin. He does this just above the upper wrist bone and upper elbow joint on the outside. The tongue is also slightly gashed in places till blood is drawn.

The writer only saw these particular places cut, as there was not sufficient time, but anyone undergoing the full treatment would be cut on the top of the foot, just above the toes, on the upper thigh, the buttock, and the shoulder, the process being repeated on the other side of the body.

The practitioner then pours into the palm of his left hand a little of each powder—seven kinds in this case. With the first finger of the right hand he puts the mixed powder on to each of the three gashes, then spits on the places and rubs the powder into the gashes with the second finger of his right hand. The remaining portion in the palm of the left hand is licked three times off the palm by the patient’s gashed tongue. The doctor then carefully wipes his hands, and, the operation being over, the powder is allowed to dry into the gashes.

To show the writer the efficacy of his medicine he took out the Syomelule snake and put it on to the finger of the patient, the mouth being closed over the first finger just below the nail, where it hung for several seconds. Then he took it off and returned it to its receptacle. One fang—the upper one—had drawn blood in the finger. He then took a knife and scraped the place of the bite on the upper and lower side of the finger. He said this was to scrape off the fangs of the snake. No blood was drawn on the under side of the finger. The patient said that the snake, when hanging to his finger, did not hurt him, but that he merely felt as if his finger was being tightly pinched. Both the doctors and the writer’s boy who were present declared that instant death was the usual result of a bite by such a snake.

The result of the treatment is that a person can seize hold of any snake and, by making a circle round its head three times with the first finger of the right hand, render it innocuous. If a person sees a snake enter a clump of grass, he walks three times round the clump, and at the place where the snake has entered puts his hand in till he catches it by the tail. He pulls it out, and the snake strikes back. He allows it to strike his hand three times, and then seizes it by the head or neck and lets go the tail. He then makes three circular passes round its head with the first finger of the right hand and the snake can no longer hurt anyone unless a person forcibly puts his fingers into its mouth. It can be carried about or worn with impunity.

If a person who is immune spits and strikes a snake with the spittle, the snake becomes sick and dies at once. The patient was at the writer’s house for quite an hour after the operation. He still had the other side of the body to be operated upon. He showed no signs of swelling or illness.

The usual price for divulging the identity of the plants and the method of concoction to a fellow tribesman is a cow and a bull. For this reason the doctor brought the twigs tied up in a piece of cloth, so that their nature was not apparent to a passer-by.

This inoculation may be a system of immunisation or it may be that the snakes produced for the operation had had their poisonous fangs extracted. Its efficacy is, however, implicitly believed in by the Kamba people of these parts, and no one who has been inoculated is known to have died from the bite.

It must be noted that a certain amount of formality is observed, there being a favourite number for the magic “passes” and for the gashes made for inoculation.

Another observer writing from Kikuyu states that while standing at a particular place with some elders a snake was seen in the long grass. One man commenced to feel about in the grass for the snake, and when another man struck at it, he picked it up alive. He seemed to have absolutely no fear of snakes, and explained that he had medicine for their bites—not to prevent bites, but to neutralise the poison. Later, he was further cross-examined and denied that he had this medicine.

The author also saw in Kitui a man who professed to have no fear of snake bites. This man one day walked into Kitui Station carrying a big puff adder (Bitis arietans) in his hand; he was not holding it by the neck, but was gripping it about eighteen inches below its head. He had heard that snakes were wanted for a collection, and had come to sell it. After the puff adder had been safely disposed of, he pointed out two deep scratches, not punctures, bleeding freely, at the base of his thumb and produced a black powder, some of which he rubbed on the wounds and some of which he placed on his tongue and swallowed. The wounds were inflicted by the adder. This man accompanied the writer for a ten days’ journey, and during that time caught various live snakes. His general procedure was to lie down and put his arm into the recesses of a white ant nest which is a very favourite shelter for snakes during the heat of the day; he would feel about and sometimes extract a snake. The idea of feeling about in a dark hole in a district where cobras, puff adders, and other poisonous snakes are common, made one shudder. But nothing untoward happened, and he suffered no ill effects from his scratches by the puff adder’s fangs. He was asked what the black powder was made of, and produced about six plants, the roots of which, when dried, charred and ground up, were said to constitute the antidote. It was, however, not possible at the time to identify the plants.

PART III

MISCELLANEOUS

INTRODUCTORY

In this section a variety of matters, many of which have a bearing on the beliefs of the people, but which cannot be legitimately placed under either Religion or Magic, are dealt with.

The section dealing with the constitution of the people shows how the council of elders grades into the primitive priesthood.

A chapter on Kikuyu dances is included, and for this the author has to thank the Hon. C. Dundas. Many of these dances take place either at planting time or near the harvest, and also at marriages, and undoubtedly come under the class of fertility ceremonies. They may thus be considered to come under the heading of either Religion or Magic, although it is not always possible to say to which they belong.

A chapter has been added on the position of women in tribal organisation, and this subject is particularly recommended to future investigators.