CANNIBALS. 



J-. town, post, nor magazine in his possession, saw him 

 *- self now .ill at oii'-i- master of the greater part of 

 Italy. The most faithful allies of the Romans be- 

 gan now to stagger in their illtgjavcc, considering 

 Rome as at an cud ; and a loin; catalogue of the Ita- 

 natioits di ( -'..I--' '1 tur Haiinili.il. Sv 7'o/yA. 1. lii. 

 JLiv. xxii. ; Vint, in Fab.; Rollin's limn. Hist. 1. 

 xiv. ; and Swinburne's Travels in the Two Sicilies. 



00 



CANNIBALS, is an appellation given to those 



savage* who feed on human flesh. 



Much incredulity has been displayed concerning 

 the existence of men who could devour their own spe- 

 cies, and the fact has been cont>idered so abhorrent to 

 the laws of nature, so offensive to the Deity, and so 

 improbable in itself, that the possibility of it has 

 been keenly denied. It has been maintained also, that 

 loathsome diseases would be generated by feeding on 

 human flesh, and that inevitable destruction would 

 follow ; for such were the consequences of compelling 

 animals of the same tribe to subsist on each other, that 

 they either became ferociously mad, or wasted away 

 and died. Yet it must be admitted, that the opinions 

 of those who have argued in this manner have result- 

 ed, more from their aversion to credit such an atroci- 

 ty, as degrading to mankind, the chosen work of the 

 Crc itor, than from philosophical considerations. Au- 

 thentic history, and present experience, equally prove, 

 that there are not only cruel and sanguinary races of 

 cannibals, but that, even among the more civilized 

 part of mankind, individuals repeatedly resort to ban- 

 quets of human flesh, in situations of extreme neces- 

 sity. 



A belief in the existence of cannibals has prevailed 

 in all ages of the world ; and, in the writings of the 

 ancients, we find whole tribes, or nations, character- 

 ised as men eaters. Herodotus, Mela, Strabo, and 

 Pliny, speak of such, either from their own know- 

 ledge, or the report of others, and describe the par- 

 ticular regions in which they dwelt. Herodotus, who 

 is entitled to the greatest credit, from the extent 

 of his travels, the accuracy of his observations, and 

 especially because the modern investigations of his 

 geography have given it corroboration, alludes to a 

 nation, apparently in India, called Callaliee, or Cal- 

 lantice. who regularly killed the more aged among 

 themselves, .and devoured their bodies. The ancient 

 Scythians, also, by almost universal concurrence, 

 seem to have been considered cannibals ; and Strabo, 

 on the authority of Ephorus, relates, that they ate 

 human flesh, though they abstained from that of 

 animals. 



Herodotus speaks of an adjoining tribe, separate 

 and distinct from the Scythians, using a peculiar lan- 

 guage of their own, but wearing similar apparel, 

 who were the rudest of mankind. They led a rural 

 life, obeyed no laws, acknowledged no superiority, 

 and fed on human flesh. Such national characteristics 

 must be viewed as differtnt from those accidental cir- 

 cumstances, which, from temporary revenge, or ne- 

 cessity, have induced mankind to devour their own 

 species. The Jews, in the time- of Trajan, for exam- 

 pie, are stated to have exercised unheard of cruelties ; 

 they are said to have killed 4(),000 men in Egypt, 

 ^Cyrene, and Cyprus ; to have fed on their flesh, be- 



snu-a facet with their blood, and clothed '' 



themselves in their skins: yi-t they do not come un- 

 der the denomination of cannib.il-. 



In Europe, however, there are strong indications 

 of their existence, long subsequent to the Christian 

 tera. St Jerome, in his writings against Jovinian, 

 plainly declares, that it was the custom of some of 

 tlf British tribes, or those from Britain in another 

 country, to feed on their own species. Though his 

 description of the people is not void of obscurity, his 

 words can admit of no doubt. " Why should I re- 

 fer to other nations, when I myself, while a youth 

 in Gaul, have seen the Atticolti, a British tribe, eat- 

 ing human flesh ? Should they find shepherds tend- 

 ing their herds of swine, or cattle, and flocks of sheep 

 in the woods, they are wont to cut off the fl-^hy 

 parts of the men, and the breasts of the women, which 

 are esteemed the most delicious food." St Jerome 

 lived in the fourth century. But to descend still low- 

 er, we find traces of the same barbarous custom in 

 Scotland, at a far later period. During a war with 

 England, the " men of Galloway" committed the 

 most horrible atrocities. They not only slaughtered 

 the innocent, without distinction of sex or age ; but 

 they cut out the bowels, devoured the flesh, and 

 drank the blood of their victims mixed with water. 

 Their ravages were carried far into the country, un- 

 tiljhe invaders were met, and defeated at the battle 

 of the Standard in 1138. 



Perhaps this is the last instance of such savage 

 barbarity known in Europe ; and here we can trace 

 the customs of the Scythians, from whom the in- 

 habitants of these kingdoms are by many believed to 

 have sprung. The Scythians drank the blood of 

 their enemies, and made drinking cups of their skulls. 

 There was a certain festival at which none could 

 drink who had not killed an enemy ; and it at length 

 became connected with religious rites, as well as being 

 a token of conquest. Livy relates, that the Boii, avail- 

 ing themselves of a victory which they had gained, cut 

 off the head of the Roman general Postumius, and 

 having set his skull in gold, deposited it in a temple 

 for consecrated libations. It can scarcely be doubted, 

 therefore, that in former years cannibals were knowr 

 in Europe, and it is probable that the tribes of Bri- 

 tain may be ranked among the number. 



This sanguinary and repulsive custom has, for cen- 

 turies, been confined to the African and American 

 continents ; for we do not know, with certainty) that 

 it has been found in Asia strictly so denominated. 

 Though many have been inclined to consider the nar- 

 ratives of the earlier European navigators to America 

 as in this respect fabulous, cannibals were recognised 

 there from the time ot Christopher Columbus. In- 

 telligent observers, who resorted thither, either for a 

 permanent or temporary residence, about the middle 

 of the sixteenth century, have detailed the whole of 

 the barbarous ceremony, and with such intrinsic evi r 

 dence, that we cannot reject their testimony. It 

 does not appear, however, that human flesh was an 

 ordinary means of subsistence ; on the contrary, 

 the enemies taken in >.pen hostility, or by strata- 

 gem, were alone sacrificed by the victor^. Maiiy 

 superstitious ceremonies w< r<- practised o.i the occa- 

 sion ; the victim was reserved until a certain tune. 



