154 
13 . Inferior Officers. —13. Petty Chiefs: have they indepen¬ 
dent jurisdiction ? 14. Does their power act as a check on 
that of the head ? 15. To what extent are they accountable 
to him ? 16. Are they appointed by the king or superior 
chiefs, elective, or hereditary ? 17. Does the power of each 
inferior chief extend over a sept personally attached to him¬ 
self ? 18. Has it territorial limits ? 19. Do quarrels arise 
between chiefs ? and are they settled by reference to the 
head, or by war, or how otherwise ? 20. What is the extent 
of their power over their subjects ? 21. Have their subjects 
any right to appeal to the head or to any other authority '/ 22. 
How does the system work ? 23. What are the number of 
inferior jurisdictions ? and are there any distinctions of rank 
between them ? 24. Do the inferior chiefs ever meet in 
council ? 
25. Counsellors or Ministers : how are these appointed ? 
26. Have they any authority independent of the will of the 
head? 17. What offices do they hold? 28. Have they any 
direct power over the people ? and how do they exercise it ? 
29. Is the head virtually ruled by his counsellors ? or does he 
exercise an individual will ? 30. Is he ruled by favourites ? 
31. Is he ruled by women ? 32. Is there any machinery of 
government, or any established constitution ? 33. What is 
the revenue of the chief and the other rulers and officers ? 
34. How is it raised ? 35. Are there annual or more fre¬ 
quent feasts at the capital town for the payment of dues or 
tribute ? 
E. W. B. 
No. XXXVII.—TABOO. 
Ceremonial prohibitions of eating certain food, touching or 
even looking at certain persons or things, mentioning certain 
names, are very frequent among mankind, and though not 
reducible to one common principle, are in various ways instruc- 
