Descent is traced only through the line of the
mother, and while individuals are as proud of a long and superior female
ancestry as we are of our families in Europe, they never pay attention
to, or even acknowledge, any man as their father, even when their male
parentage is perfectly well known. There is but one titular male parent
of each tribe, or, as they call it, "Household," and he is its elected
and immediate ruler, with the title of "Father." For instance, the man
Billali was the father of this "household," which consisted of about
seven thousand individuals all told, and no other man was ever called
by that name. When a woman took a fancy to a man she signified her
preference by advancing and embracing him publicly, in the same way that
this handsome and exceedingly prompt young lady, who was called Ustane,
had embraced Leo. If he kissed her back it was a token that he accepted
her, and the arrangement continued until one of them wearied of it. I
am bound, however, to say that the change of husbands was not nearly so
frequently as might have been expected.
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