III.] THE AFRICAN NEGRO: I. SUDANESE. 79 



Fertit. Wherever explorers have penetrated into this least-known 

 region of the continent they have found the practice fully estab- 

 lished, not merely as a religious rite or a privilege reserved for 

 priests, but as a recognised social institution 1 ." 



Yet many of these cannibal peoples, especially the Mangbattus 

 and Zandehs, are skilled agriculturists, and cultivate 

 some of the useful industries, such as iron and industries! 

 copper smelting and casting, weaving, pottery and 

 wood-carving, with great success. The form and ornamental 

 designs of their utensils display real artistic taste, while the 

 temper of their iron implements is often superior to that of the 

 imported European hardware. Here again the observation has 

 been made that the tribes most addicted to cannibalism also 

 excel in mental qualities and physical energy. Nor are they 

 strangers to the finer feelings of human nature, and above all 

 the surrounding peoples the Zandeh anthropophagists are distin- 

 guished by their regard and devotion for their women and 

 children. 



In one respect all these peoples show a higher degree of 

 intelligence even than the Arabs and Hamites. 

 " My later experiences," writes Junker, " revealed Appreciation 

 the remarkable fact that certain negro peoples, of pi ctoriai 

 such as the Niam-Niams, the Mangbattus and the 

 Bantus of Uganda and Unyoro, display quite a surprising under- 

 standing of figured illustrations or pictures of plastic objects, 

 which is not as a rule exhibited by the Arabs and Arabised 



1 Africa, 1895, Vol. II. p. 58. In a carefully prepared monograph on 

 " Endocannibalismus," Vienna, 1896, Dr Rudolf S. Steinmetz brings together 

 a great body of evidence tending to show "dass eine hone Wahrscheinlichkeit 

 dafur spricht den Endocannibalismus (indigenous anthropophagy) als standige 

 Sitte der Urmenschen, sowie der niedrigen Wilden anzunehmen " (pp. 59, 60). 

 It is surprising to learn from the ill-starred Bottego-Grixoni expedition of 

 1892-3 that anthropophagy is still rife even in Gallaland, and amongst the 

 white ("floridi") Cormoso Gallas. Like the Fans, these prefer the meat 

 " high," and it would appear that all the dead are eaten. Hence in their 

 country Bottego found no graves, and one of his native guides explained that 

 " questa gente sepellisce i suoi cari nel ventre, invece che nella terra," i.e. these 

 people bury their dear ones in their stomach instead of in the ground ( Vittorio 

 Bottego, Viaggi di Scoperta, &c., Rome, 1895). 



