1. M'Ikiene M'Irimbere, MOS 40. [BACK]

2. Nguruntune variants collected by H. E. Lambert and J. G. H. Hopkins, former district commissioners in Meru, who took great interest in their historical traditions. Material now in Lambert Papers. [BACK]

3. Benson, ed., Kikuyu-English Dictionary , for example, gives three meanings of Mukuna Ruku, each of which is reflected in Meru tradition: (1) "a mythological figure . . . giving light to the sun"; (2) "one who signals by means of a gong (legendary figure, probably an ivory trader from Mombasa)"; (3) "a person of . . . authority, . . . Arab or European.'' In contemporary Meru children's tales Mukuna Ruku is synonymous with both a figure of authority and the sun. [BACK]

4. Ogot and Kiernan, Zamani , 130; Oliver and Mathew, History of East Africa , 141; and Stigand, The Land of Zinj , 49-50. [BACK]

5. Hobley, Ethnology of the A-Kamba , 158. [BACK]

6. Lambert Papers. Early versions were collected by E. B. Horne (1913), J. G. H. Hopkins (1918), and C. R. Wise (1925), all district commissioners. Later versions were collected from various subtribes by Rev. W. H. Laughton and H. E. Lambert, district commissioner (all in the 1930s and early 1940s). The latest collections took place in 1967-1970 among every section of the Meru-speaking peoples and are my own. [BACK]

7. E. B. Home, private paper, 25 April 1913. Lambert Papers.

8. Ibid. [BACK]

7. E. B. Home, private paper, 25 April 1913. Lambert Papers.

8. Ibid. [BACK]

9. Mahassin, "Some Contributions of Swahili Poetry." [BACK]

10. Laughton, "An Introductory Study of the Meru People." [BACK]

11. Jean Brown, "Metalworking in East and Central Kenya," Discussion Paper, Institute of Development Studies, University of Nairobi, June 1970. [BACK]

13. The prophecy is in Ki-Igembe, a dialect of Ki-Meru (language). Kiringo M'Munyari, MOS 33. [BACK]

14. Brown, Jean, "Metalworking in East and Central Kenya," 2.

15. Ibid., 5, and see L. Saggerson, "Geological Survey," in E. W. Russell, ed., Natural Resources of East Africa (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1962). [BACK]

14. Brown, Jean, "Metalworking in East and Central Kenya," 2.

15. Ibid., 5, and see L. Saggerson, "Geological Survey," in E. W. Russell, ed., Natural Resources of East Africa (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1962). [BACK]

16. For this and all subsequent information about the area between the Tana River and the upland fringes of Ukambani (the area currently inhabited by the Kamba), I am indebted to Mr. Stephen Pownall, Nanyuki, Kenya, who became intimately acquainted with its topography through many years of game trapping and cattle buying in the area. [BACK]

17. See note 16 above. [BACK]

18. Lambert, "Social and Political Institutions," 315-17. [BACK]

19. Gituuru wa Gikamata (Imenti), MOS 27; M'Thaara M'Mutani (Muthambi), MOS 28; Kiringo M'Munyari (Igembe), MOS 33; Gaichungi Baibuatho M'Mbarui (Igembe), MOS 34; these men are among the last surviving members of their Kiramana (Igembe: Kilamunya) age-set, thus the oldest living men in Meru. [BACK]

20. There are many translations of the term "Mount Kenya." One of the earlier Gikuyu versions, still widely accepted, is Kirima Kia Nyaga (hill of the ostrich), currently contracted to Kirinyaga. Similarly, the earlier Meru version of Kirima Kia Maara (shining hill, referring to its ice-capped peak) has been contracted to Kirimaara. Gikuyu data provided by K. K. Sillitoe, assistant agricultural officer, Meru, 1954-1957; personal communication, May 1992. [BACK]