MOTHERRIGHT 277 



animals, the father would have to pay its value to his 

 wife's relations." 1 



The child is regarded by many of the African 

 peoples as so entirely the property of the kin that he 

 is liable to be given in pledge for their debts. Among 

 the Bavili " the mother alone has the right to pawn 

 her child ; but she must first consult the father, so that 

 he may have the chance of giving her goods to save 

 the pledging. The father cannot pledge his child. The 

 brother can pawn the sister, or the uncle his niece, the 

 mother being dead. But the father being alive the 

 uncle must first go to him to give him the chance of 

 helping him out of his difficulty by means of a loan of 

 goods. ... A person is never free from being pawned 

 in this way." The father, however, always has the 

 right to ransom the child. 2 This is doubtless one stage 

 on the way to fatherright. On the Ivory Coast the 

 Alladians take account only of the maternal descent. 

 As among the Bavili, there is no distinction between 

 legitimate and illegitimate children. The whole 

 organisation is based on uterine parentage. "The 

 father's authority scarcely exists, and from the civil 

 point of view he is not the parent of his children." 

 Children cannot be sold, but they may be pledged for 

 the debts of their etiocos or kindred. The father 

 cannot pledge them : he is not one of the kin. But 

 the maternal uncle may do so, without any limit of 

 age ; though if he seek to pledge a married niece he 

 must first give her husband the opportunity of making 

 the necessary loan. The father cannot be made 

 responsible for his children's debts ; the mother is 



1 Arnot, Garenganze, 242. 



2 Dennett, Journ. Afr. Soc. i. 266. 



