274 TITLES AND INHERITANCE. 
out combing,—unless the relatives of the de- 
ceased interfere; whereby it is sometimes 
put an end to in a few months, provided the 
sincerity of her grief be evident and her con- 
duct meritorious. In their mourning, how- 
ever, they do not weep and cry with such 
clamorous vehemence as the Choctaws and 
others. But the Shawnees and Delawares 
are still more celebrated for quiet mourning. 
As warlike nations, they appear to disdain to 
mourn and wail aloud, as is the practice among 
the greater portion of the savage tribes. 
Though these people have no family names, 
they generally take a kind of honorary title or 
sobriquet, as is also the case with the wild 
tribes, upon the occurrence of any important 
incident, or the performance of a meritorious 
feat. A singular mode of inheritance prevails 
among the Cherokees, the Creeks, and perhaps 
others. Though the women in other respects 
are mostly held as very inferior beings, the 
. Clans are all reckoned by them: the children 
pertain to the mother, and the estates descend 
through the female branch of the family. 
They say it is easy enough to verify the mo- 
thers of families, but it is difficult to identify 
the fathers. 
The remaining tribes, inhabiting the more 
northern frontier, as well as the Seminoles 
who are located among the Creeks, possess 
so few distinct or striking characteristics, and, 
indeed, are* mostly so few in number, that a 
particular notice of them seems hardly to be 
required. Suffice it to say, that all of them, 
. Epa om 
