MOTHERRIGHT 269 



male of the family ; but each individual has a right to 

 a share of the income." 1 



Now the way in which the Nayars supply the sexual 

 needs of the Nambutiris is by providing them with 

 consorts who, not being married by Brahman rites, 

 are not regarded as legitimate wives by the Nambutiris, 

 though the union is quite regular by Nayar custom. 

 The Brahman rule of hypergamy is entirely in harmony 

 with this, for a Brahman may have sexual relations 

 with a woman of any caste. Among many Niyar 

 families the women mate with none but Nambutiris, 

 and all Nayar women must mate either with Nambutiris 

 or with Ndyars. The children of such unions, whether 

 with Nambutiris or with Niyars, reckon as Nayars, 

 and belong to the mother's family and clan. A Nambu- 

 tiri father cannot therefore touch his own children 

 by his Nayar consort without pollution, which requires 

 ceremonial bathing to remove. 2 Similar marriage 

 customs are followed by other castes in the south 

 of India. 3 



The fact that the children do not belong to the 

 father's kin leads in extreme cases to father and son's 

 being found in arms against one another. The popu- 

 lation of the Mortlock Islands is divided into stocks 

 or kins. Each kin inhabits a separate district and 

 forms a little state. As the children belong to the 

 mother's stock each of these districts comprises the 

 group of persons exclusively tracing descent from the 

 same maternal ancestor. It also comprises as residents 



1 Buchanan, Journey, ii. 412. Cf. Madras Govt, Mus. Bull. Hi. 

 45 ; Ind. Cens. 1901, xx. 154 sqq. 



2 Madras Govt. Mus. Bull. iii. 67, 225. 



3 In addition to the authorities cited in previous notes, see 

 Mateer, 172, 82, 87, 103. 



