[Footnote: Gomara ("Historia de las Indios," Vedia I, p. 201).
Garcia ("Origen de los Indios," Lib. IV, cap. 23, p. 247).
Piedrahita (Parte 1, Lib. I, cap. 5, p. 27). Joaquin Acosta
("Compredio historico del Descumbrimiento y Colonisazion de la
Nueva-Granada," Cap. XI, p. 201). Ternaux-Compans ("L'ancien
Cundinamarca," pp. 21 and 38).]
It was different, however, in Mexico, where we meet with traces of a decided progress. Not only had descent been changed to the male line, [Footnote: Motolinia (Trat. II, cap. V, p. 120). Gomara (p. 434). Clavigero (Lib. VII, cap XIII). Zurita (pp. 12 and 43).] but heirship was limited, to the exclusion of the kin and of the agnates themselves, to the children of the male sex.
[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote 16 relocated to chapter end.]
Whatever personal effects a father left, which were not offered up in sacrifice at the ceremonies of his funeral, they were distributed among his male offsprings, and if there were none, they went to his brothers. Females held nothing whatever, beyond their wearing apparel and some few ornaments for personal use.
[Footnote: Motolinia (Trat. II, cap. V, p. 120). Torquemada (Lib. XIII, cap. XLII to XLVIII, pp. 515 to 529). Acosta (Lib. V, cap. VIII, pp. 320, 321, and 322). Gomara (pp. 436 and 437, Vedra, I). Mendieta (Lib. II, cap. XL, pp. 162 and 163). Clavigero (Lib. VI, cap. XXXIX). "They burnt the clothes, arrows, and a portion of household utensils … ">[
The 'tlalmilli' itself, at the demise of a father, went to his oldest son, with the obligation to improve it for the benefit of the entire family until the other children had been disposed of by marriage.
[Footnote: Gomara ("Conq. de Mejico", p. 434): "It is customary among tributary classes that the oldest son shall inherit the father's property, real and personal, and shall maintain and support all the brothers and nephews, provided they do what he commands them. The reason why they do not partition the estates is in order not to decrease it through such a partition…." Simancas M. S. S. ("Recueil," etc., etc., p. 224): "Relative to the calpulalli … the sons mostly inherited.">[
But the other males could apply to the chief of the calpulli for a 'tlalmilli' of their own; the females went with their husbands. Single blessedness, among the Mexicans, appears to have occurred only in case of religious vows, and in which case they fell back for subsistence upon the part allotted to worship, or in case of great infirmities, for which the calpulli provided.
[Footnote: Zurita (p. 55): "He who has no land applies to the chief of the tribe (calpulli), who, upon the advice of the other old men, assigns to him a tract suitable for his wants, and corresponding to his abilities and to his strength." Herrera (Dec. III, Lib. IV, cap. XV, p. 135).]
[Footnote: Such unmarried females were the "nuns" frequently mentioned by the old writers. We shall have occasion to investigate the point in our paper on "The ancient Mexican priesthood." As attendants to worship, they participated in the tributes furnished towards it by each calpulli, of which we have spoken.]