of men. There are other rites connected with the cult of Chimbin about which I was unable to obtain any information, as the rites are a secret of the women. It is said that if any man intrudes during these rites he will lose his virility.[104] 
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any old woman. It is said that women taking part in the dances attended by this genius dress themselves in the loin coverings [103] of men. There are other rites connected with the cult of Chimbin about which I was unable to obtain any information, as the rites are a secret of the women. It is said that if any man intrudes during these rites he will lose his virility.[104]
The Mambila bury their dead in graves of the shaft and tunnel type. The body is buried naked, all ornaments being removed. It is laid on its side in a contracted position, with both hands holding the head. The face looks towards the west, for it is said that a man comes into the world from the east, and at death "goes west".
The position for women is the same as that for men. Loose earth is thrown in until the shaft is filled up, no attempt being made (as is usual where the shaft and tunnel grave is employed) to protect the body from the earth. The mouth of the shaft is not blocked by a stone, nor is the grave used more than once.
Chiefs are buried under a granary[105] 
, possibly because they are regarded as the personification of the corn. Their red fezzes and gowns are fastened to the walls of the granary, a custom similar to that followed by the Jibu and Okpoto tribes.
All the Mambila groups were cannibal until recently, and most of them would be cannibal still were it not for fear of the Administration. They ate the flesh of their enemies killed in war,1 and among their enemies might be the members of a neighbouring village with whom they had intermarried when at peace. Thus it might happen that a man would kill and eat one of his own relatives. An instance was given of a man killing and eating his wife's brother during an affray between two villages[106] 
. But it was stated that if a man killed and ate his father-in-law he would contract bronchitis and die![107] 
Religious ideas were not prominent in the cannibalism of the Mambila, for those who were willing to speak on the subject confessed that they ate human flesh purely as meat[108] 
. When they killed an enemy they cut pieces off his body and ate them raw in situ, without any formalities. Pieces were taken home and given to the old men, who ate them from sheer lust of flesh. In such cases the flesh might be eaten raw or cooked. Even the
1Apparently they sometimes, sold their own dead for food. See Migeod, Through British Cameroons, p. 140. [109] 