[34].

On the other hand on the Bloomfield property in zamia nut grounds has
vested in women and descends from mother to daughter[35]; but in this
remarkable variant we see, of course, not the influence of the mother's
kin, but female influence or rather the right of females to the produce
of their labour. In respect of other property, inheritance in North
Queensland is in the male line, for it descends to blood brothers and
remains in the same exogamous group from generation to generation.

This brings us to the question of the part played by the local group in
causing the change from female to male descent. Under ordinary
circumstances, with female descent, the local group is made up of
persons of different phratries and totems; in any case, just as the
phratry and totem of the members of the individual family change from
generation to generation, the complexion of the local group is liable to
be completely changed; though in practice the changes in one direction
are no doubt counterbalanced by changes in the other, so that the net
result may be nil, when the original differences were small. But we
cannot suppose that the group was often evenly balanced; and a change in
the rule of descent would in that case have important results for the
local group and in any case for the individual family.

The importance of the difference in the constitution of the local group
under descent in the male line is seen when we reflect that in the
normal tribe the totem kin is practically the unit for many purposes.
If, for example, an emu man has killed, let us say, an iguana man, it is
the duty of the iguana men to avenge the death of their kinsman. Their
vengeance need not, however, fall on the original perpetrator of the
deed; according to the rules of savage justice all the emu men are
equally responsible with the culprit; consequently it suffices to kill
the first emu person whom they can find. Conversely, those to whom an
emu man looks for defence, when he is attacked, or assistance, when he
wishes to abduct a wife or anything of that sort, are his fellow emu
men. It is therefore clear that the rule of male descent gives far
greater security to the members of a local group; for they are
surrounded by kinsmen. Under the rule of female descent, on the other
hand, they probably have some kinsmen in the same group but equally a
considerable number of members of other totem kins.

Self-interest therefore, no less than the natural