MEN OF THE TREES 



common request. To them children spell prosperity. A 

 male child is wished for in order that he may be able to 

 lay the ghost of his father when his time comes to de- 

 part this life, but amongst the agricultural tribes that I 

 have come across, after the birth of one son, female 

 children are more popular. This is readily understood, 

 as each girl at marriage brings a dowry of about thirty 

 goats. 



I think people generally have a false impression of 

 the position of African women. They imagine that the 

 African woman is merely a slave and treated as one of 

 the many goods and chattels. This idea may result from 

 the fact that women are responsible for the cultivation 

 of the crops, and that they fetch wood and water for 

 the household. In truth, the position of these African 

 women is relatively higher than that of a woman in other 

 countries, by reason of the fact that she is head of her 

 family. 



Once I happened to interpret a conversation between 

 a Kikuyu woman and the wife of a District Commis- 

 sioner. In discussing her position, the native woman had 

 taken pains to show the white woman that her position 

 in tribal life was superior to that of the white woman. 



Because a man has two or more wives, he does not 

 necessarily think less of them. Each wife is head of her 

 own family and has her own establishment, and her 

 children depend on her much more than upon their 

 father. It is considered a great honour to be the first 

 wife, but there is no jealousy when the others enter the 



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