But So Great A Faith Have I In The Lack Of
Inventive Power In The African, That I Feel Sure
All their customs,
had we the material that has slipped down into the great swamp of
time, could be traced
Back either, as I have said, to some natural
phenomenon, or to the thing being advisable, for reasons of utility.
The uncertainty in the parentage of offspring may seem to be such a
utilitarian underlying principle, but, on the other hand, it does
not sufficiently explain the varied forms of the law of inheritance,
for in some tribes the eldest or most influential son does succeed
to his father's wealth; in other places you have the peculiar custom
of the chief slave inheriting. I think, from these things, that the
underlying idea in inheritance of property is the desire to keep the
wealth of "the house," i.e. estate, together, and if it were allowed
to pass into the hands of weak people, like women and young
children, this would not be done. Another strong argument against
the theory that it arises from the doubtful relationship of the son,
is that certain ju-ju always go to the son of the chief wife, if he
is old enough, at the time of the father's death, even in those
tribes where the wealth goes elsewhere.
Certain tribes acknowledge the right of the women and children to
share in the dead man's wealth, given that these are legally married
wives, or the children of legally married wives; it is so in
Cameroons, for example.
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