VISITS. 109 



to salute them; and among the Kaffirs, the Great Place 

 (as the chief s residence is termed) is the resort of all the 

 principal men of the tribe, who attend &quot; for the purpose of 

 paying their respects to the chief.&quot; 



But, as just implied, the visits chiefly to be noted as 

 elements in ceremonial government, are those which sec 

 ondary rulers and officials of certain grades are required to 

 pay. In a compound society headed by a chief who has 

 been victorious over other chiefs, there arises the need 

 for periodic demonstrations of allegiance. Habitually the 

 central ruler, knowing that these subjugated local rulers 

 must chafe under their humiliation, and ever suspecting 

 conspiracies among them, insists on their frequently 

 recurring presence at his place of residence. He thus 

 satisfies himself in two ways: he receives re-assurances of 

 loyalty by gifts brought and homage performed, while he 

 gets proof that his guests are not then engaged in trying 

 to throw off his yoke. 



Hence the fact that in compound societies the periodic 

 visit to the king is a political ceremony. Concerning a 

 conquered people in ancient Peru, we read that the Yncas 

 &quot; ordered that, during certain months in the year, the native 

 chiefs should reside at the court of Cuzco; &quot; and, speaking 

 of other subordinate rulers, F. de Xeres says &quot; Some of 

 these chiefs [who came to visit Atahuallpa] were lords of 

 30,000 Indians, all subject to Atahuallpa. &quot; In ancient 

 Mexico a like usage is shown to have had a like origin. 

 From the chiefs of the conquered province of Chalco, 

 certain indications of submission were required; and 

 &quot; Montezuma II. asked them, besides, to come to Mexico 

 twice a-year, and so take part in the festivals.&quot; Africa in 

 our own day furnishes an illustration showing at once the 

 motive for the usage and the reluctant feeling with which it 

 is sometimes conformed to. In Ashantee, 



&quot; At that great annual festival [the yam-custom] all the caboceers 

 and captains, and the greater number of the tributary kings or chiefs, 



