722 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



chiefs it is said that " with the war their power ceases." Among the 

 Sound Indians the chief " has no authority, and only directs the move- 

 ments of his band in warlike incursions." 



As observed under another head, this primitive insubordination 

 has greater or less play according as the environment and the habits 

 of life hinder or favor coercion. The Lower Californians, above in- 

 stanced as chief -less, Baegert says resemble "herds of wild swine, 

 which run about according to their own liking, being together to-day 

 and scattered to-morrow, till they meet again by accident at some 

 future time." "The chief among the Chipewyans are now totally 

 without power," says Franklin ; and these people exist as small migra- 

 tory bands. Of the Abipones, who are " impatient of agriculture and 

 a fixed home," and "are continually moving from place to place," 

 Dobrizhoffer writes, "they neither revere their cacique as a master, 

 nor pay him tribute or attendance as is usual with other nations." The 

 like holds under like conditions with other races remote in t3'pe. Of 

 the Bedouins Burckhardt remarks, " The sheik has no fixed authority"; 

 and, according to another writer, " A chief who has drawn the bond of 

 allegiance too tight is deposed or abandoned, and becomes a mere 

 member of a tribe, or remains without one." 



And now, having noted the original absence of political control, 

 the resistance it meets with, and the circumstances which facilitate 

 evasion of it, we may ask, What causes aid its growth ? There are 

 several ; and chieftainship becomes settled in proportion as they co- 

 operate. 



Among the members of the primitive group, slightly unlike in vari- 

 ous ways and degrees, there is sure to be some one who has a recog- 

 nized superiority. This superiority may be of several kinds, which we 

 will briefly glance at. 



Though in a sense abnormal, the cases must be noted in which 

 the superiority is that of an alien immigi'ant. The head-men of the 

 Khonds "are usually descended from some daring adventurer" of 

 Hindoo blood. Forsyth remarks the like of "most of the chiefs" in 

 the highlands of Central Asia. And the traditions of Bochica among 

 the Chibchas, Amalivaca among the Tamanacs, and Quetzalcoatl 

 among the Mexicans, imply kindred origins of chieftainships. Here, 

 however, we are mainly concerned with superiorities arising within 

 the tribe. 



The first to be named is that which goes with seniority. Though 

 age, when it brings incapacity, is often among rude peoples treated 

 with such disregard that the old are killed or left to die, yet, so long 

 as capacity remains, the greater experience accompanying age gen- 

 erally insures influence. The chief-less Esquimaux show " deference 

 to seniors and strong men." Burchell says that, over the Bushmen, 

 old men seem to exercise the authority of chiefs to some extent ; and 



