At the time appointed, Karuri, accompanied by any others who were to take part in the ceremony, went out into one of the “sacred groves” in the bush, taking with them a sheep, which, on arrival at the spot where the sacrifice was to take place, was killed by strangling, its throat being cut directly it was dead, and the blood caught in a calabash, and put on one side. A sort of wooden gridiron was then made, by planting four upright sticks in the ground and laying others across them, under which a fire was lighted, and the sheep, having by this time been cut up, was roasted on this. While the cooking was going on, the blood, which had been put on one side, was put into the stomach, thus making a sort of black-pudding, which was then roasted, and eaten after the meat. The meat was eaten in the Abyssinian fashion, each man taking up the joint, and biting hold of as much as he could get into his mouth, the mouthful then being severed from the joint with his sword, and the joint passed on to his neighbour, who did the same. I managed to introduce one or two slight modifications into the manufacture of the black-puddings, by getting them to cut up some of the fat, and mix it with the blood, and boil the ingredients, instead of baking them. No women or children were ever allowed to be present on any occasion when the men were eating meat, as, like the Masai, the Kikuyu do not allow their women to touch meat, and therefore, to keep them out of temptation, never allow them to see the men eat it. How much religious significance this ceremony had I should not like to say: the fact that it was always held in one of the sacred groves would seem to imply that it had some connexion with their religion, but, as there was no further ceremony than I have described, I always had a lurking suspicion that it was simply an excuse for a good meal of roast mutton, and that the groves were chosen for the meeting-place as being more likely to be secure from interruption from the women and children.