M^^ININYAGA, THE GREAT ^HITE SPIRIT 



establishment. The second and subsequent wives are al- 

 ways acquired at the primary suggestion of the first 

 wife. A man may be married for a year, and his wife 

 will go to him and say, "My man, I think it is about 

 time you married again. Do you not realize that I have 

 a lot to do?" The husband may protest, "I am perfectly 

 content, and I do not want anyone but you." Besides 

 he may add, "I really can't afford it." If she persists 

 the husband may ask her if she has anyone in view for 

 him, and she will perhaps remember a friend who had 

 cultivated the next shamba or garden to her own before 

 she was married. After considerable persuasion on the 

 part of the wife and if there are a sufficient number of 

 goats — that is to say, if funds permit — the husband will 

 ask her to see the girl's father and arrange the marriage. 



Later on, the original wife may again approach her 

 husband, pointing out that the fields are increasing in 

 size and the herds and flocks are multiplying, and she 

 must have still further help. Again she is instructed 

 to make an application. There is no jealousy, for they all 

 live in tranquillity in their own houses, and they each 

 have their own tasks. As their respective families grow 

 up, the girls assist them in the fields, while the boys herd 

 the cattle and sheep. 



I do not wish to give the impression that the A-Kikuyu 

 love for offspring is merely economic. They have the 

 same love for ancestors. Ajnong the people who live in 

 the Nika or Desert country, a tribe on the coast, there 

 is an interesting custom. At the death of his parent 



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