Research source

Burglar’s Magic.—In the author’s “Ethnology of A-Kamba” an example of this in connection with the Machakos…

Date of account: Published 1922
Source: 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
Reference: 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 · selected passage 114
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-25

Record summary

Burglar’s Magic.—In the author’s “Ethnology of A-Kamba” an example of this in connection with the Machakos district was given—p

Published source text

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Source passage

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Burglar’s Magic.—In the author’s “Ethnology of A-Kamba” an example of this in connection with the Machakos district was given—p. 95. The same kind of thing is evidently practised in Kitui, where it is said that a thief will sometimes obtain medicine from a magician and rub it on a stone. He then goes to a village at night and throws it on to the thatch of a hut. It is stated that he then probably waits till he hears the people say: “Let us sleep.” He presently enters the hut and goes to the owner and says: “I have come for a cow which I am going to take away.” The owner is apparently hypnotised and unable to refuse, for he answers: “Take such and such a one,” and the people go on sleeping till late the next morning.

Historical context

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Modern context

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