MOTHERRIGHT 315 



the widow or daughter left in this embarrassing posi- 

 tion fulfils her duty. She " marries " in the name of 

 the deceased a girl whom she selects and whose bride- 

 price she pays out of his herds. It is then incumbent on 

 her to arrange for a man to cohabit with the bride in 

 order to produce children. A widow whose husband 

 has left no male relations arranges for one of her own 

 to act as husband ; in default of male relations of her 

 own she may appoint any man she pleases. The 

 children resulting from the connection are in name 

 and rights of inheritance those of the deceased, the 

 natural father having no claim on them whatsoever. 1 



This is carrying the custom of raising up seed to 

 the deceased, with which we are familiar in the laws 

 of the Hebrews and the Hindus, further than in any 

 other case with which I am acquainted. In a more 

 restricted form it is common to many of the African 

 tribes. Among the Wadjagga when a man dies with- 

 out children or unmarried his father if living takes a 

 wife in his name, and any children she bears will 

 count as the sons of the deceased, their actual father 

 being regarded as their grandfather. 2 Macheng, a 

 chief of the Bamangwato, was the legal son and 

 successor of Khari. He was not born until some 

 years after Khari's death. Khari had had other sons, 

 but not by the woman whom he had appointed head- 

 wife. Having paid her price in cattle she and her 

 offspring were to be reckoned to him, although the 

 children were not born for a dozen years after his 

 death. Macheng was her son. He had to make good 

 his claim against the powerful chief Sekhome, who 



1 MS. Collection of Dinka Laws by Capt. Hugh D. E. 



2 Gutmann, Globus, xcii. 3. 



