Handbook to the ethnographical collections . s weunderstand it, is a com-paratively late product,but in an imperfect formit existed almost fromthe Ijeginning, originatingpossibly in the reluctanceof the mother to part withany of her offspring. Ageneral recognition of thecloseness of the tie l)e-tween mother and child,together with the com-parative ease of tracing-descent upon the mothersside, may have given riseto the widely spread cus-tom of mother-right oriivdria rchy. Accordingto this practice, descentis reckoned in the femaleline, and a mans propertyis inherited not by hisson but by his br
Handbook to the ethnographical collections . s weunderstand it, is a com-paratively late product,but in an imperfect formit existed almost fromthe Ijeginning, originatingpossibly in the reluctanceof the mother to part withany of her offspring. Ageneral recognition of thecloseness of the tie l)e-tween mother and child,together with the com-parative ease of tracing-descent upon the mothersside, may have given riseto the widely spread cus-tom of mother-right oriivdria rchy. Accordingto this practice, descentis reckoned in the femaleline, and a mans propertyis inherited not by hisson but by his brother orby his sisters son. Which-ever way descent wascounted, all direct de-scendants of a commonancestor lived togetheruntil their numliers in-creased to such an extentthat they had to a kin-group is sometimes known to ethnologists. as agens or clan, and a number of clans or gentes, all recogni>^inga relation one to another, make up the trih:\ It is a verycommon practice, especially where • mother-right prevails, for K. C. Fig. 9.— Ceremonial adzes fromMangaia i Hervey Islands^ witli stoneblades and hafts carved in designsderived from the human form. 18 INTRODUCTION
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