Note 536 — Chapter IV · CALIFORNIANS.

The office of chief is hereditary in the male line only. The widows and daughters of the chiefs are, however, treated with distinction, and are not required to work, as other women. Beechey's Voy., vol. ii., p. 73. In one case near Clear Lake, when 'the males of a family had become extinct and a female only remained, she appointed a chief.' Gibbs, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii., p. 112. At the Port of Sardinas 'durmió dos noches en la capitana una india anciana, que era señora de estos pueblos, acompañada de muchos Indios.' Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. xxxii.