86 CEREMONIAL INSTITUTIONS. 



fails to impress them witji a fear great enough to make 

 present-giving an habitual ceremony. It is only in a com 

 pound society, resulting from the over-running of many 

 tribes by a conquering tribe, that there comes a governing 

 class, formed of head-chief and sub-chiefs, sufficiently dis 

 tinguished from the rest, and sufficiently powerful to inspire 

 the required awe. The above examples are all taken from 

 societies in which kingship has been reached. 



370. A more extended form is simultaneously as 

 sumed by this ceremony. For where along with subordi 

 nate rulers there exists a chief ruler, he has to be propitiated 

 alike by the people at large and by the subordinate rulers. 

 We must here observe the growth of both kinds of gift- 

 making that hence arise. 



A place in which the usage has retained its primitive 

 character is Timbuctoo. Here &quot; the king does not levy any 

 tribute on his subjects or on foreign merchants, but he 

 receives presents.&quot; But Caillie adds &quot; There is no regular 

 government. The king is like a father ruling his children.&quot; 

 AVhen disputes arise, he &quot; assembles a council of the elders.&quot; 

 That is to say, present-giving remains voluntary where the 

 kingly power is not great. Among the Kaffirs, we see gifts 

 losing their voluntary character. u The revenue of the king 

 consists of an annual contribution of cattle, first-fruits,&quot; 

 etc.; and u when a Koossa [Kaffir] opens his granary he 

 must send a little of the grain to his neighbours, and a larger 

 portion to the king.&quot; In Abyssinia there is a like mixture of 

 exactions and spontaneous gifts: besides settled contribu 

 tions, the prince of Tigre receives annual presents. Evi 

 dently when presents that have become customary have 

 ceased in so far to be propitiatory, there is a tendency to 

 make other presents that are propitiatory because unex 

 pected. 



If an offering made by a private person implies submis 

 sion, still more does an offering made by a subordinate ruler 



