Bantu Beliefs and Magic / With particular reference to the Kikuyu and Kamba tribes of Kenya Colony; together with some reflections on East Africa after the war

by C. W. Hobley

During long years of service in East Africa my work has brought me into close contact with the native tribes from Lake Victoria to the coast, and I early realised that their administration could not be intelligently conducted without close inquiry into their social organisation and religious beliefs, and in this connection I would here like to express my indebtedness to the kind advice and stimulating assistance which I have received from Sir W. Ridgeway, Sir J. G. Frazer, Professor Haddon and others. I particularly wish to thank Sir J. G. Frazer for his kindness in consenting to write an introduction to this work.

My first researches in this field were conducted among the tribes of Kavirondo, and when some years later I left the Nyanza province for Ukamba I became interested in the people with whom this work mainly deals. [[4]]

In 1910 I published a small work styled “The Ethnology of the A-Kamba and Other East African Tribes” which was mainly intended as an aide memoire for colleagues working among the people referred to; the study was continued and certain matters were dealt with in papers communicated to the Royal Anthropological Institute and the British Association.

Further research has, however, brought to light a great deal of additional material and has enabled me to piece together the work, and I venture to believe that the light which it attempts to throw upon the inner life of these important tribes may stimulate further inquiry, and help both official and colonist in his relations with them.

It has long been the fashion to look upon such research as being of only academic value; this view, however, is year by year becoming dimmer, and I would ask all those who are interested in Africa to abandon it.

The late war has forcibly demonstrated the importance of understanding the psychology of our enemies, and if that is admitted I would claim that it is quite as important for workers in Africa to endeavour to understand the psychology of the Africans, whose friendship is of vital necessity to all progress in that country.

In presenting this work to the public, I would like to emphasise the belief that the field is by no means exhausted; all that I have been able to do has been done amidst the insistent rush of official duties, and I have often longed for the chance of being able to concentrate my attention for a year or two solely on researches of this nature.

The language difficulty is one of the greatest obstacles with which a European is faced; native languages are numerous and an administrative officer rarely has time to learn one before he is removed to another area and therefore another language. The elders rarely know much Swahili, the language which is the lingua franca of East Africa. Interpreters are often a snare, and an investigator has to work with one [[5]]for some time before being certain that he has fully realised the spirit of the research, especially when dealing with religious beliefs: indeed many interpreters never grasp the spirit of the inquiry. I had working with me for some years a remarkable interpreter—Juma bin Hamis—who became deeply interested in the subject under investigation, and was of the greatest assistance. When any point was obscure he would go off and unearth an elder who was known to have particular information on the point at issue. Unfortunately, however, I have to mourn his loss, for he died at Nairobi in 1911. Such a man is difficult to replace; his speciality was Kikuyu political organisation and customs, and, although a coast native, he was deeply esteemed by all the people of Southern Kikuyu.

I would here like to express my indebtedness to several of my colleagues and friends, particularly the Hon. C. Dundas, G. H. Osborne, and the late S. W. J. Scholefield, who, living for a long time in the native reserves of Kikuyu and Ukamba in close contact with the people, have given me the greatest assistance upon special points. I am also grateful to Miss du Cros for her kind assistance in revising the MSS. of this work.

With the Hon. C. Dundas’s permission, I have inserted an interesting memorandum by him on Kikuyu dances and certain magical phenomena. He collected the information while in charge of the Kikuyu district.