by the Arowaks, Warraus, and Macusis.1 Among the Arowaks, who are divided into clans, it is only the child's clan which is decided by the female line; the conditions in the other two tribes are somewhat obscure. Schomburgk states that tribal dependence is never derived from the father, but only from the mother, and that the offspring of an Arowak and of a Warrau woman would be reckoned in the Warrau tribe; he adds that the right of inheritance is in agreement with that of the tribal claims.2 Nothing certain can be inferred from this fact; it is possible that the Warraus have followed the customs of the Arowaks, with whom they are closely connected. There is certainly no rupture of the relation between father and son, since the office of a wizard devolves upon his eldest son.3 The relations between father and son are so close among the Macusis that the simple assertion that among them, as well as among the other tribes of Guiana, the descent of the child is traced through its mother, must be received with the greatest caution. The father fondly loves his child; it is completely in his power, and he can sell it, if so disposed, while the adult son is as a stranger to his mother. Again, a strange light is thrown on the female line of descent by the prohibition to marry a brother's daughter, since this is regarded as the nearest degree of kinship among brothers and sisters. father's brother is called papa as well as the father. On the other hand, it is permitted to all to marry a sister's daughter, a dead brother's wife, or a stepmother, after her husband's death. The idea that the mother was more closely akin to the child than its father could not have resulted in such a state of things; on the other hand, it may be explained in accordance with our Schomburgk, Reisen, vol. i. 169; vol. ii. pp. 314, 459. 2 Ibid., vol. i. p. 169. Ibid., vol. ii. p. 318. 3 Ibid., vol. i. p. 172. The principle, when we go on to consider the way in which the tribes in question lived. The young husband usually lives for some time with his parents-in-law, and works for them.1 The analogy between this custom and that which prevails in North America is apparent, but the distinction between them is not so plain. In the north, the custom was an expression of the clan sentiment, and this ideal character gave it greater weight. In the south it is reduced to a question of gain, and the son-in-law must serve for his bride as Jacob served for Rachel. The wooer may give other things for his bride besides his labour; when he has come to an understanding with the father, he gives a present and makes amends to him for the loss of his daughter by promising to give a sister in marriage to one of his sons, or, in default of this, he promises to give his own first-born daughter. This mode of ransom is the true source of a custom in which, without further proof, the origin of a former observance of the female line has been sought. Waitz is surprised that among the Caribs the sons inherit from their fathers, "although they only appear to have regarded kinship in the female line as a true kinship." This female line results from the claim made by men on the daughters of their father's sister, and also from a similar claim made by the mother's brother. It is, however, easy to see that they merely follow from the ransom we have just mentioned; for if, when the first daughter is born, the mother's 2 1 Schomburgk, Reisen, vol. i. p. 164; vol. ii. p. 318. Brett, p. 101. Martius, vol. i. p. 108. Gili, p. 344. Du Tertre, vol. iii. p. 378. 2 Plogge, "Reise in das Gebiet der Guajajara-Indianen," quoted in Petermann's Mittheilungen, 1857, p. 206. 3 Waitz, vol. iii. p. 383. Du Tertre, vol. ii. p. 400. Oviedo states that in Hayti the sons of the head wife are the first to inherit, next, the brothers, the sister's son, then the sons of the other wives (Sprengel, Auswahl, vol. i. p. 39). This does not imply a female line, but the dawn of a monogamous order of things, which regards the children of the inferior wives as illegitimate. 4 Du Tertre, vol. ii. p. 377 brother maintains his right, and demands the child as his future wife, the father of the child is absolved from part of his duties towards his wife's parents, and the future husband must take them on himself.1 It would not be correct to say that the tribes just mentioned observe the male line; the child is bound by strong ties to both parents, but these do not distinctly involve ideas of common blood; all is still indefinite and fluctuating, since the groups of kinsfolk are still unformed. The tribes of the Orinoco have no family names, by which one house is distinguished from another. They are so indifferent to their forefathers that they rarely know the names of their grandfathers "2 Among these peoples the family is regarded only in its narrowest sense, and the power of the father is unlimited. Within this circle a desire is felt to distinguish the children by their mothers, and this is the more powerful since the polygamous family is no longer a homogeneous whole. It is only the first wife who is obtained by her husband's labour, and the rights of this head wife are predominant; her children sometimes enjoy special privileges. Often each wife has her own hut, in which case the husband lives for a month with each of them. The mother chooses her child's name, and is sometimes herself called after her child, and she exerts great influence over the choice of her son's wife.5 If divorced, she seeks to retain the children, and if she is successful, she provides for their future.6 The bond between the mother and child is esteemed to be so close that the children born of a connection between the men of the tribe and captive women are sometimes eaten.7 Yet some authors assert that these children are placed on an equality with the 1 Lafitau, vol. i. p. 557. Labat, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 5. See Spix and Martius, vol. iii. p. 133 (Mundrucus). Gili says that the word aro is used both for mother's brother and for father-in-law. 2 Gili, p. 324. 4 Du Tertre, vol. ii. p. 387. 6 Du Tertre, vol. ii. p. 376. 4 3 Waitz, vol. iii. p. 383. 5 Gili, pp. 324, 342. 7 Waitz, vol. iii. p. 374. others.1 But however strong the tie between mother and child may be, its force depends on their living together in the same hut; the idea of this collocation exerts a powerful influence on the fancy. There is nothing to indicate that the idea prevails of a peculiarly close tie of blood between mother and child. Among the Brazilian tribes the claims of both parents are considered, and in the more weighty questions the father comes forward as the one in authority. It is through him that the children are connected with the tribe and its legal organization. The Brazilian household is more closely compacted than that of the Caribs, and plays an important part as the fundamental element of society. Only the fathers of families are admitted to the general councils of the tribe. The cohesive power of the household is so strong that it is on the verge of becoming a clan in the geographical sense, that is, with local boundaries. Those tribes which are numerous are subdivided into hordes and families, and there is a closer union among the individual members of each section than there is with the whole tribe. Each of these subdivisions are groups of kinsfolk, while the others are only groups by association; the former bear patronymic names, while the latter derive their names from the locality or from some special characteristic. Among the Gês such modifications are readily traced, but they seem to disappear almost as quickly as they are formed.5 The cause of this swift disappearance lies in the difficulty of maintaining tribal union between hordes which are locally separated. A. von Humboldt observes" that savage nations are divided into a great number of tribes, 1 Du Tertre, vol. ii. p. 379. Rochefort, p. 327. Labat, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 11. 2 Martius, vol. i. pp. 64, 65. 3 Martius, vol. i p. 54. Spix and Martius, vol. ii. p. 821. Guaranis and Chireguanas (Azara, vol. ii. p. 54. Charlevoix, vol. i. p. 294). 5 Martius, vol. i. p. 283. Spix and Martius, vol. ii. p. 821. between which there is a deadly enmity, and they never unite together, even when their language has a common origin, and their dwellings are only divided by a small stream or by a range of hills. In proportion to the smallness of the tribe is the probability that the marriage between families, which has gone on for centuries, will produce a certain uniform modification, an organic type, which may be termed the national form."1 The scattered portions of the clan become distinct nations. Only one bond is permanent enough to hold these portions together after their separation-the widely-diffused savage custom of tattooing, painting, and other personal adornments, by means of which the fancy maintains the local, graphic signs with which they cannot dispense, and to whose influence they involuntarily and absolutely surrender themselves. The tattoo-marks make it possible to discover the remote connection between clans, and this token has such a powerful influence on the mind that there is no feud between tribes which are tattooed in the same way. The type of the marks must be referred to the animal kingdom, yet we cannot discover any tradition or myth which relates to the custom.2 There is no reason for asserting that there is any connection between the tattoo-marks and totemism, although I am personally disposed to think that this is sometimes the case. The tattooing, which usually consists in the imitation of some animal-forms, may lead to the worship of such animals as religious objects. However this may be, tattooing is a plastic art which may be modified and altered, and if similar tattoo marks unite peoples together, any alteration of these marks may make the breach which has taken place between them irreparable. Tattooing may also lead to the formation of a group within the tribe. At all events, among the Uainumas the different families or hordes are distinguished by the 1 A. von Humboldt and Bonpland, vol. ii. p. 192. 3. Spix and Martius, vol. iii. p. 1279. |