POLITICAL HEADS CHIEFS, KINGS, ETC. 345 



noted. In many societies where descent of property and 

 rank in the female line is the rule, an exception is made in 

 the case of the political head ; and societies exemplifying this 

 exception are societies in which political headship is relatively 

 stable. Though in Fiji there is kinship through females, yet, 

 according to Seemann, the ruler, chosen from the members of 

 the royal family, is &quot; generally the son &quot; of the late ruler. 

 In Tahiti, where the two highest ranks follow the primitive 

 system of descent, male succession to rulership is so pro 

 nounced that, on the birth of an eldest son the father becomes 

 simply a regent on his behalf. And among the Malagasy, 

 along with a prevailing kinship through females, the sovereign 

 either nominates his successor, or, failing this, the nobles ap 

 point, and &quot; unless positive disqualification exists, the eldest 

 son is usually chosen/ Africa furnishes evidence of 



varied kinds. Though the Congo people, the Coast Negroes, 

 and the Inland Negroes have formed communities of some size 

 and complexity, notwithstanding that kinship through females 

 obtains in the succession to the throne, yet we read of the 

 first that allegiance is &quot; vague and uncertain ;&quot; of the second 

 that, save where free in form, the government is &quot; an insecure 

 and short-lived monarchic despotism ;&quot; and of the third that, 

 where the government is not of mixed type, it is &quot; a rigid but 

 insecure despotism.&quot; Meanwhile, in the two most advanced 

 and powerful states, stability of political headship goes along 

 with departure, incipient or entire, from succession through 

 females. In Ashantee, claims to the crown stand in this 

 order &quot;the brother, the sister s son, the son ;&quot; and in Dahomey 

 there is male primogeniture. Further instances of 



this transition are yielded by extinct American civilizations. 

 The Aztec conquerors of Mexico brought with them the 

 system of kinship through females, and consequent law of 

 succession ; but this law of succession was partially, or com 

 pletely, changed to succession through males. In Tezcuco 

 and Tlacopan (divisions of Mexico) the eldest son inherited 

 the kingship ; and in Mexico the choice of a king was limited 



