CANNIBALISM. 405 



gentleman in charge of the Post offered him his hand 

 in greeting, but it was dechned, as were also the 

 salutations of other Indians present. When asked 

 the reason of his strange demeanour, he replied, " I 

 am not worthy to shake hands with men ; I am no 

 longer a man, for I have eaten man's flesh. It is 

 true I was starving, was dying of hunger ; but I 

 cannot forgive myself; the thought of the act is 

 killing me, and 1 shall die soon, and with content- 

 ment, for although I still exist I cannot any longer 

 consider myself a human being." He had, as I 

 understood, since died. 



This is very different from the conduct of the 

 Slaves and Dogribs, who seem to have little regret 

 for the commission of such acts, although the rest 

 of the tribes regard them with abhorrence (or fear ?) 

 and will seldom intermarry with them. 



This reminds me of an old Indian at Fort Simpson 

 named Geero, who had, it was said, assisted in the 

 consumption of eighteen individuals dm'ing periods 

 of starvation, and was reported to prefer human flesh 

 to any other. While we were wintering at that fort 

 I was very desirous of going off for a few days into 

 the woods to try and find reindeer or moose under 

 the guidance of an Indian, but it so happened that 

 only Geero was at the fort when my wish was 



