If at child-birth any blood falls on the floor of the hut, the old women who assist at the birth dig up the earth floor at that place and bury the soil in the bush at some little distance from the village, for if a goat licked that particular spot it would die.
If a man goes into his hut at a birth or after it has taken place, and accidentally treads in blood which may have dripped on the floor, the newly born child will become sick, but the evil can be averted by the cohabitation of the parents.
This fear of certain kinds of blood is very curious [[161]]and goes right back to ancient times. Among these people a woman during her menstrual period may not grind corn, but is allowed to cook sweet potatoes or whole maize. She may not, however, milk the cattle, nor may she cut potato tops as green fodder for the goats.
A woman must also not step over her husband when in this state or he will become ill, and to remove the thahu a ewe lamb must be killed and both husband and wife invested with bracelets made of the skin (rukwaru). A woman will tell her husband when she becomes ill, and bathe when she is no longer so. Her husband can then return to her.
A woman must not shave her hair while her husband is on a journey; if she does so she will be accused of bewitching him. She can, however, clip her hair a little in front. This prohibition is said to be connected with the customs by which a wife shaves her head on the death of her husband, and were she to do so while he is travelling, it might possibly bring him ill luck.
If a man goes away to hunt or to fight, and on his way back, when he nears his village, is taken ill and suffers from diarrhœa, he knows thereby that his wife has been unfaithful to him during his absence. He will thereupon call an elder and tell him to bring a ram and the roots of certain medicinal plants: kindio, ibalu, and mathengi. The throat of the ram is pierced and the blood collected in a half gourd (nzeli) and mixed with the crushed roots and the tatha, or stomach contents, of the ram. The suspected woman is called out and told to take hold of the right arm of the elder who is holding the nzeli containing the mixture. She then takes a handful of the decoction and throws it on the ground, and the husband rubs his foot in it. The remainder of the mixture is sprinkled all the way from there to the door of the hut, as well as on the bed. She is probably beaten by her husband, and her paramour is summoned before the council of elders and fined a bull or a ram. [[163]]
[1] The frequent occurrence of sexual rites may appear repugnant to Europeans, but students of the ancient world will readily admit that there is an intimate connection between these rites and the religious beliefs of people in a certain stage of culture. Many examples could be quoted. [↑]