We have already seen that our contemporary Kabyles, although of Berber origin, make the yoke of their wives very hard; but it may be admitted that, in this respect, they have been influenced by numerous conquerors. A certain emancipation of women seems to be a characteristic trait of Berber societies. Even at the present time, among the Touaregs of the Sahara, who have preserved their independence and the purity of their race better than the Kabyles, the rich woman enjoys a social position analogous to that of the ladies of ancient Egypt. In spite of the Mussulman law, the Targui woman practically imposes monogamy on the man. She would immediately seek a divorce if her husband attempted to give her a rival. Amongst the Touaregs filiation is still maternal, and confers the rank. “The child follows the blood of the mother;” the son of a slave or serf father and a noble woman is noble. “It is the womb which dyes the child,” they say in their primitive language.[522] “Absolute mistress of her fortune, her actions, and her children, who belong to her and bear her name, the Targui lady goes where she will and exercises a real authority.”[523] She seldom marries before the age of twenty, and she marries as she pleases, the fathers only intervening to prevent _mésalliances_. She eats with her husband, to whom, however, she owes obedience, and who can kill her in case of adultery.--(Duveyrier, 339-340.) The Targui women know how to read and write in greater numbers than the men. It is well known, besides, that rudimentary instruction in reading and writing is widely spread among the Mahometan population of North Africa. It is to the Targui ladies, says Duveyrier, that is due the preservation of the ancient Lybian and ancient Berber writing.[524] Leaving domestic work to their slaves, the Targui ladies occupy themselves with reading, writing, music, and embroidery;[525] they live as intelligent aristocrats. “The ladies of the tribe of the Ifoghas are renowned,” says again Duveyrier, “for their _savoir-vivre_ and their musical talent; they know how to ride _mehari_ better than all their rivals. Secure in their cages, they can ride races with the most intrepid cavaliers, if one may give this name to riders on dromedaries; in order, also, to keep themselves in practice in this kind of riding, they meet to take short trips together, going wherever they like without the escort of any man.”[526] Targui gallantry has preserved for the women of the tribe of Imanan, who are descended from the ancient sultans, the title of royal women (_timanôkalîn_) on account of their beauty and their superiority in the art of music. They often give concerts, to which the men come from long distances decked out like male ostriches. In these concerts the women sing while accompanying themselves on the tambourine and a sort of violin or rebâza. They are much sought after in marriage, because of the title of cherif which they confer on their children.”[527]