Among the Paiwan--also the small neighbouring tribe of the Piyuma--chieftainship seems to be hereditary, usually descending from mother to daughter, although over some groups male chiefs rule; this apparently being usual when the old queen has died without leaving a daughter. Such instances are not infrequent among a people with whom small families are usual. In this connection, reference may be made to a statement which has been somewhat widely disseminated regarding the children of the aboriginal women of Formosa. It has been said that these women never allow their children to live until they themselves are thirty-seven years of age.[59] This curious statement was made by one of the old Dutch chroniclers of the seventeenth century, and has been repeated, doubtless in good faith--on the strength of the Dutch records--by more modern writers. Of this custom, however, I saw no trace in any of the tribes during my residence among them. On the contrary, I saw many young mothers--of various tribes--nursing and tending their babies with greatest devotion. It is true that with them, as with many primitive peoples, twins are considered “unlucky,” and the weaker of the pair is usually killed at birth. Also, illegitimate children are not allowed to live, Formosan standards--those of the aborigines--being curiously rigorous on the latter point. Except in these instances, I saw nothing that would suggest infanticide among any of the tribes, and heard nothing of it. Both men and women seem particularly devoted to their offspring. But, due apparently to the present hard conditions of life among the aborigines, families are small and comparatively few of the children born grow to maturity. To revert for a moment to the customs of the Paiwan and Piyuma tribes. A rather strict age-grade, or system of rank regulated according to age, seems to exist among them. The older the man or woman, the more is he, or she, held in reverence.