At Ngenda Mission, a twin was handed over to the missionary, and the father agreed to give them the customary ten goats out of the dowry when the child should be married. No reason for this belief is known, but the custom is rigorously followed to this day. No one can sleep in the hut in which twins were born until they are disposed of, and the mother must cohabit with a stranger who is then called mwendia wa rohio or mundu rohiu (man of the sword).[1]
A short time ago a case of triplets occurred. The mother had first borne one child, then twins, and finally triplets. In this case only one of the triplets was given away to a man of another clan, for, as the woman had borne several times before, the triplets were not considered unlucky, and the giving away of the one was said to be due solely to the mother’s inability to suckle all three.
On the birth of a child a sheep is killed and a strip of the skin is worn on the mother’s wrist, rukwaru, and her head is shaved; the fat of the sheep is prepared and given to the infant to eat, being put into its mouth with the finger. This must be done before the child is suckled, and the same ceremony, in respect to the mother, is performed by the foster-mother in cases where a twin or other child is handed over to a family of another clan.
In every case where a child is handed over to foster-parents it will belong to the clan of its foster-parents and not to that of its real parents, but if the child is a girl she can marry a man of the foster-father’s clan provided he does not live close to the foster-father, while marriage with a man of her real father’s clan is prohibited to her. [[157]]
There is an undoubted widespread belief that the only satisfactory way of dealing with twins is to suffocate them, as they are unlucky. It is believed that the practice of giving them away is a later adaptation to the custom followed when a woman dies in child-birth, the child, whether twin or not, being always, in this case, given away to a man of another clan.
Among the Kamba of Ulu, the same general idea as to the unluckiness of twins, if they are the first-born, prevails. The twins, however, are not killed or put away, but within a day or two of their birth the mother is returned by her husband to her father and the marriage price of the woman is paid back to him. If the husband cohabits with the mother of the twins after their birth it is believed that he or the children will die. It is therefore quite clear that the curse or ill luck is only immanent in the woman. Upon the birth of an ordinary child a string made of the bark of the ithaa tree is ceremonially tied round its neck, but this is not permitted in the case of twins. After the mother of twins has been returned to her father, she may be married to another husband without the latter incurring the same risks as the first husband, but the second husband must be of the grade of an elder of council. It is an interesting point, as a man, on reaching this grade, is not so subject to the incidence of a curse as a young man. It would therefore appear that the woman is still to some extent dangerous. The second husband becomes the adopted father of the twins and carries out the ithaa ceremony mentioned above; one of the twins must be named Mbatha, the name of the other one being of no significance. At the feast of the ithaa, he kills two rams or two male goats, one for each twin. It is said that twins are not killed at birth, as among the Kikuyu, because the woman’s second husband would, under native law, sue the father for the value of the children.
As the twins grow up, each child must be treated exactly alike; if one has a present, the other must [[158]]receive the same. A wife must be found for each at the same time, and the same marriage dowry must be paid for each. In the case of boys, when sufficient live stock has been paid over to the prospective father-in-law to induce them to part with their daughters, both brides must be brought to their husbands on the same day. If one of the twins is a boy and the other a girl, and the latter is being sought in marriage by a young man, it is the custom for the brother to take his sister to her lover’s village for a visit. They stay there two days and return home on the third day, the girl being given a goat by the young man.
The Kamba of Ulu do not believe that twins have any influence on the rain or the weather generally. In Kitui, as in Kikuyu, it is most unlucky for twins to be born if they are the first children of the marriage. In former times one was buried alive, but this cruel custom has apparently died out. It is, however, still believed that if they are girls and both live, the mother will die, and if the twins are boys and they survive, the father will die. It is supposed that the evil effect can be mitigated to some extent if, three days after their birth, the father cohabits with the mother; the parents also kill a goat and are smeared with the tatha, or stomach contents.
If a cow bears twin calves at first calving they are invariably both killed.
As in Kikuyu, it is lucky for a child to be born head first; it is unlucky to be born feet first, but the infant is not killed. There is, however, a curious belief that such a person must never step over anyone lying on the ground, and if he forgets this prohibition, he must at once step back over the recumbent person. The stepping back is called njokela, “to go back,” and is supposed to reverse the ill luck which would be transmitted.