Note 1 — Chapter IV · MISCELLANEOUS MAGICAL PRACTICES

Now the bead used for this purpose must be one of a particular kind, which has been handed down from past ages and is evidently believed to be of magical value. Several of the clans in Kikuyu are alleged to possess specimens of this bead, each one being in charge of a particular elder; they are said to be reddish in colour and rather long in shape.1 Endeavours have been made to get a specimen for examination, but it has not been possible to locate one; the elders state that they have not seen one used for some years. A chuma cha mchugu must not be kept in a house, but is hidden away in the bush—in this particular it is like the kithathi.