The Mbeere live in the area east of Mount Kenya and south-west of the Tana River. Numbering just under 50,000 they are ethnographically much less well known than their related neighbours the Kikuyu, Embu, Meru, and Kamba. In this paper we first outline the social organization, then the system of land rights, continuing to describe the government's programme of land reform, concluding by assessing the probable consequences of changes in land tenure.

In a predominantly agricultural society, the family unit has remained a fundamental element underlying economic organi2ation among the Hausa. There is, however, surprisingly little reference in the literature to the organization of this unit since it was described by Greenberg (1946; 1947) for pagan Hausa, and by Smith (1955) for Moslems. This paper discusses those aspects of the family structure which are directly related to the organization of rural production. In particular it is concerned with the family farming unit which may be defined as those members of a kinship group who combine their farming operations under a common leadership and organization, to form the basis for a common unit of domestic economy.

The fascinating discussions of Nyoro symbolism which were contributed to Africa a few years ago by Rodney Needham (1967) and John Beattie (1968) included contrasting explanations of the myth which deals with the origin of the recently reigning Bito dynasty. I return now to this tale, believing it to be so fecund that even when two such scholars have done with it there still remain some footnotes to be added.

I have sometimes felt that my book on Zande witchcraft beliefs and practices did not finish the story—what happens at death and afterwards. I hope to be able to complete this last chapter in the near future—a chapter to which Fr. Giorgetti (F. Gero) has contributed in his Death among the Azande of the Sudan (1968), a translation from the Italian Morte e religione della morte tragli Azande del Sudan. In the meantime, and because I wish the Azande to speak for themselves, I submit for publication in vernacular and translation a few texts on what I think is a topic of interest.

Dreams and visions have an important place in the life of many of the more colourful African churches of Zionist or Pentecostal type. This has often been noted (Sundkler, 1961; Pauw, 1960; Sangree, 1966; Welbourn, 1966; Peel, 1968) but has rarely received any detailed consideration. Any definitely sociological, rather than psychological, treatment of the topic is particularly rare. My object in this paper is therefore to attempt an explicitly sociological examination of the phenomenon in one particular church which I have studied. I shall consider the telling of dreams and the extent to which it is controlled and patterned by beliefs and expectations, i.e. dream-telling as an institution; and I shall go on to examine the part it plays in the life of the group and the ways in which it is further patterned by this.