REMBAU HISTORY, ETC. : 69 
The rule for succession to ancestral property may be thus 
formulated :— 
Ancestral property—real and personal,—descends to 
daughters or their direct descendants, per sturpes not per capita. 
In the event of the holder of ancestral property dying 
without issue, the inheritance reverts to the nearest living 
female relative of the same family the waris yang kadim— 
normally sisters or nieces, per stirpes. In default of these, or 
should the nearest relative refuse the inheritance, to which by 
eustom she is entitled, ancestral property descends to that 
relative in the tribe, even if not the nearest of kin, who had 
supported the deceased holder in her old age, provided that 
nearer kinsfolk had not offered her a home. Should the 
deceased holder have entirely supported herself, the property 
would descend to relatives of the degree of first cousins 
(sa’anak dato’) or,in default thereof, to more distant cousins 
(swanak nenek or moiang). 
It is clear then that the failure of female heirs is a 
extremely remote contingency. The custom, however, which 
debarred males from inheriting ancestral property, did 
contemplate a failure of heirs. Ancestral property to which 
no female heirs existed was known as ~ suspended inheri- 
tance’ ( pesaka gantong) and male children or agnate relatives 
might memorialise the Undang for permission to dispose of 
such property. 
To the denial of inheritance to male children in ancestral 
property the custom admits one exception. Weapons or male 
ornaments and clothing, the males of the family may receive 
—but as a concession, not as a right. Such benefits, known 
as the path of the eye’’* (chenderong mata), are granted as 
a sign of the blood connection between the female inheritors 
and their brothers. 3 
The disability of the male to succeed to ancestral property 
has been modified by late usage. At a meeting of the Negri 
(1) In the State of Naning, where the same custom obtains as in 
Rembau, the chenderong mata takes the shape cf a fruit tree reserved 
for the male in the ancestral kamyeng. 
R. A. Soc., No. 56, I910, 
Rules for in- 
direct succes- 
sion. 
Inheritance 
by Males. 
Forbidden 
by custom. 
Exception to 
the disqualify- 
ing rule. 
Recent spe- 
cific orders re- 
specting suc- 
cession by 
Males. 
