The Indian Tribes of Eastern Peru by William Curtis FarabeeReview by: Walter HoughAmerican Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1923), pp. 271-272Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Anthropological AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/660467 .

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BOOK REVIEWS 271

This version seems to differ somewhat from any hitherto published and it is unfortunate that neither it nor any of the other versions is given in full. The accounts of mound building contained in these legends are unusually detailed and will prove of interest to students of the region.

The chapter dealing with the appearance and culture of the Chickasaw is made up almost entirely of extracts from the writings of early visitors to the tribe, and the author is to be commended for the thoroughness with which he has covered the literature of the region. This, coupled with his excellent system of references, makes the chapter of real value to ethnologists. Many of the quotations seem unnecessarily brief and the author's selection of material is not always judicious. Thus in the section entitled "Their Dwelling Houses" he contents himself with the brief statement given by the Gentleman of Elvas and ignores Adair's detailed description. Certain important elements of Chickasaw culture are not mentioned and the author has made no attempt to interpret the matter quoted in the light of modern ethnological knowledge.

The chapters dealing with the wars and treaties of the Chicka- saw show much careful research and will prove of interest to students of American history. Much space has been devoted to De Soto's dealings with the tribe and to his probable route through their territory. The author brings to this problem an intimate knowledge of the local terrain and of the old Indian trails and makes out a strong case for his contention that De Soto first reached the Mississippi at the place where Memphis, Tennessee, now stands.

RALPH LINTON

The Indian Tribes of Eastern Peru. WILLIAM CURTIS FARABEE. Introduction by Louis JOHN DE MILHAU. (Papers of the Pea-

body Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Vol. x.) Cambridge, Mass., 1922. Mr. Louis John de Milhau, patron of the expedition, has supplied

several pages of introduction most interestingly written of the history of the inception of the undertaking. Dr. Farabee has, to the mind of the reviewer, cast honor upon Harvard by producing a work which will meet with the approval of all anthropologists because of its com- pactness and the ease with which students can consult it for data. It is difficult to find in the whole realm of anthropological literature a more satisfactory piece of conscientious work. Dr. Farabee supplies

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272 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 25, 1923

material from the Arawakan, Panoan, Jivaran, Witotan, Miranhan, and Tupian stocks, and from the Macheyenga, Campa, Piro, Mashco, Conebo, Sipibo, Amahuaca, Tiatinagua, Atsahuaca, and Mabenaro tribes under these stocks. Vocabularies are given and a great deal of data on somatic characters. The final chapter is devoted to the studies on the archaeological remains in the Andes region and the interior of Bolivia. There is a bibliography and excellent index; in short, the publication is up to the high standard of the Peabody Museum.

WALTER HOUGH

AFRICA

The Evolutzon of Kinship; an African Study (The Frazer Lecture, 1922). E. SIDNEY HARTLAND, LL. D., F. S. A. Oxford University Press, American Branch, 1922. 31 pp. $0.70. Dr. Hartland's general views on the priority of maternal descent

are known in this country both through his books and one of the Memoirs of our Association. In the lecture before us he summarizes them once more with 1,s accustomed lucidity, utilizing the African material available and

more, particularly Smith and Dale's recent

work on the Baila. No cognizance is taken of the general reflections made in recent years on the weakness of any unilinear scheme of social evolution, and it may not be amiss to quote the relevant com- ments of one of Britain's greatest jurists:

When this evidence about barbarians gets into the hands of men who have been trained in a severe school of history and who have been taught by experience to look upon all the social phenomena as interdependent it begins to prove far less than it used to prove. Each case begins to look very unique and a law which deduces that "mother right" cannot come after "father right," or that "father right" cannot come after "mother right," or which would establish any other similar sequence of "states" begins to look ex- ceedingly improbable. (Frederic William Maitland, Collected Papers, III, p. 295.)

Apart from Dr. Hartland's tenacious adherence to his earlier point of view, two statements call for consideration. One is pre- sumably a mere slip of the pen: on p. 7 the author seems to assume that the pastoral condition is in an absolute sense inferior to the horticultural. He cannot seriously believe that the kind of tillage carried on by the Bantu raises them even in a purely material sense above the Kirgiz or, to remain within the African field, above the Wahuma.

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