TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION H. 511 



6. Dolmens or Cromlechs. By A. L. Lewis. 



A comparison of a large number of dolmens and other rude stone monuments 

 shows differences of construction and apparently of purpose. Some of these dif- 

 ferences are localised. Taking these points into consideration, together with the 

 vast area over which- the rude stone monuments extend, and their great numbers, 

 it is probable that they were not the work of a single race, which went about 

 the world constructing them ; nor of two races, of which one erected the dol- 

 mens and the other set up the circles, but that they were part of a phase of 

 culture through which many races have passed. Little if anything can be 

 deduced from these monuments as to early migrations of the human race. 



7. Report on the Distribution of Artificial Islands in the Lochs of the 

 Highlands of Scotland.— See Keports, p. 137. 



TUESDAY, SEPT EM BEE 5. 

 The following Papers were read :— 



1. Some Religious Beliefs of the Kikuyu and Kamba People. 1 

 By C. W. Hobley, C.M.G. 



It is probably hardly necessary to mention that the A-Kikuyu and the 

 A-Kamba are two of the best known and important tribes in the interior of 

 British East Africa, and together number well-nigh a million souls. The observa- 

 tions recorded in this paper were obtained from direct contact with the tribes in 

 question and particularly from their chiefs and elders. 



In the last number of the ' Journ. E. Anthrop. Inst. ' the author published a 

 paper on certain aspects of the subject of the present paper, with particular 

 reference to a phenomenon called tliahu, nza.hu, or thabu, and it is necessary 

 to refer to that in order to make quite clear some of the present research. 



The term thahu may be described as a condition which is the result of a curse 

 in the mediaeval sense; it is a condition into which a person may fall if he or she 

 commits certain forbidden acts, breaks certain prohibitions, or again it may be 

 the result of certain circumstances over which the victim has no control. Some 

 sixty different examples of the way in which thahu can be incurred were given in 

 the paper referred to. One important fact to be remembered is that the incidence 

 of any particular thahu often depends upon the circumcision guild to which the 

 person belongs. This line of investigation was found to open such a large field 

 of inquiry, and to give such an insight into a side of native life which usually 

 escapes notice, that it has been continued and extended in the present paper. One 

 interesting feature now elucidated is another form of curse, called a Kirume, 

 which can be inflicted by a dying man, the general idea being that a dying 

 person can lay a curse upon property belonging to him or can lay a curse upon 

 another person, but only upon a member of his own family. For example, the 

 head of a village can lay a curse upon a plot of land and lay down that it is not 

 to pass out of the family or dire results will ensue. This would appear to be of 

 considerable interest as being the early stage of a last will or testament, and 

 moreover, the rude beginning of the principle of 'entail.' It may further be 

 taken as some evidence of individual tenure in land. 



In some cases the thahu curse affects the hut ; this appears to be worthy of 

 note, as it may in some measure account for the low type of domestic architecture 

 among many of the Central African tribes, for it becomes obvious that there is 

 but little incentive to build large permanent structures if there is a possibility 



1 To be published in full in Journ. I?. Anthrop. Inst. 



