CANNIBALS. 



most pacific state, aa a race endowed with 

 * / and docility. Yet experience proves that they are can- 

 nibals to as great an extent as the New Zealanders. 

 They were seen by the navigators sent out in search of 

 La Perouse, in 1793, devouring human flesh; and a 

 portion roasted, which proved to have belonged to a 

 young person of 14- or 15 years of age, was offered 

 to one of their number. The natives acknowledged 

 that they relished such an exquisite feast, and with 

 their teeth greedily tore the remaining sinews and li- 

 gaments from a bone. A skeleton, bearing the marks 

 of fire, hung from a post beside the door of a hut, 

 which was found to be the remains of an unfortunate 

 wretch who had been devoured. The natives ex- 

 plained, in an unequivocal way, how they proceeded 

 to a repast on the bodies of their enemies ; and 

 maintained, that these were the only victims whom 

 they devoured. After the victim fell under repeated 

 strokes of a club or javelin, the belly was ripped up 

 with an implement made of a hard sharp edged stone, 

 specially adapted for the purpose ; and then, with 

 another implement of human bone, also prepared for 

 the occasion, the entrails were drawn out. The legs 

 and arms being next severed at the joints, were dis- 

 tributed among the combatants, to be carried home 

 as food for their families. The muscular portions of 

 these members were esteemed particularly delicate ; 

 and, indeed, the same cannibals grasped the fleshy 

 parts of their visitors with an eagerness and avidity, 

 clearly demonstrating the gratification which they 

 should enjoy from making a meal of it. 



It is possible that the continual wars in which 

 petty states or inconsiderable islands are involved, 

 may render the inhabitants more ferocious ; for all 

 human passions only lurk in concealment, and are ready 

 to be excited into action. During a war in Tongata- 

 boo, in the year 1799 independent of devouring the 

 dead bodies, the women were seen., after a battle, lick- 

 ing their hands which had been dipped in the blood 

 of the slain. In those which have been called the 

 Friendly Islands, the natives are as savage as in those 

 islands where warfare is known to prevail without in- 

 termission : whence, it is to be concluded, that canni- 

 bal practices are far more widely diffused than has hi- 

 therto been supposed. 



Nearly about the same period that the catastrophe 

 above related happened to the British vessel at New 

 Zealand, a scene as sanguinary and horrific was pas- 

 sing at the Fejee islands. Several Englishmen at 

 that time being taken prisoners by a warlike chief, 

 who aimed at conquering all the neighbouring terri- 

 tories, were retained to witness the progress of his 

 arms. An immense fleet of canoes sailed from his 

 principal residence, and was met by one brought out 

 by his opponents to guard their island ; but after a 

 long and obstinate conflict, the latter, overpowered 

 by numbers, forsook their vessels, and leaping into 

 the sea, escaped by swimming ashore. Only one 

 boy was taken, who being presented to the relent- 

 less savage, was dispatched by three blows of a club, 

 and hiii body given in charge to an attendant, to be 

 roasted for him. But this did not satisfy his ven- 

 geance ; he resolved to extirpate his enemies, by mas- 

 cacring the helpless women and children who could 



not accompany their hiibbands mid fatLcrt in their 

 flight. A shocking carnage ensued, wherein all were 

 butchered on the spot by the furious assailants, without 

 distinction of age or sex, or were dragged half dead 

 into the canoes, where they breathed their last. When 

 the cruel object was completed, no less than 42 corpse* 

 were extended on the platform of the canoe which 

 the chief commanded, and delight was pictured in 

 every countenance at the horrible banquet which 

 was to follow. The body of a young female prin- 

 cipally attracting his attention, he ordered it to be 

 laid aside for himself and his second in command : a 

 fact which coincides with what is told of some bar- 

 barous leader who, on a march, always carried young 

 women along with him, who were occasionally sa- 

 crificed for his food. The dead bodies were ac- 

 cordingly conveyed home with the invaders, and de- 

 prived of the limbs, which were hung up on trees, 

 and ready to be cooked. Twenty or thirty men af- 

 terwards appeared with baskets full of human flesh, 

 half roasted, which is the method adopted for pre- 

 serving it, and the English were urged to partake it* 

 the succeeding repast. 



The ancient and modern existence of cannibals it, 

 therefore, too satisfactorily proved, ever to be again 

 called in question. 



It is difficult to account for the origin of so barba- 

 rous a practice as that of devouring human flesh, though 

 men may be conducted to it by imperceptible grada- 

 tions. Those tribes which are of the rudest man- 

 ners, and sunk lowest in the scale of civilisation, can 

 scarcely be accused of participating in it ; for the can- 

 nibals presently known are rather nations verging to- 

 wards improvement, and animated by the desire of 

 conquest. 



Feeding on human flesh may have resulted either 

 from necessity, or from some religious ceremonial ; 

 and it may gradually have been adopted as a token of 

 personal prowess. Where the culture of the soil is 

 neglected, and a scanty sustenance precariously ob- 

 tained, mankind are exposed to long and severe pri- 

 vations. To quell the cravings of hunger, tight liga- 

 tures are bound around the body, and lumps of unc- 

 tuous earth greedily swallowed. If an animal be 

 killed, its blood is drank, and its flesh is devoured 

 raw ; and the meal is repeated as often as occasion 

 will allow. Under the pressure of necessity, there- 

 fore, while the savage makes a necklace of the teeth 

 of his fallen enemy, or ornaments himself with his 

 bones, it is less unnatural that he should at once give 

 an unquestionable proof of his prowess, and satisfy 

 the cravings of nature, in making a repast on his 

 flesh. From some principle of religion or duty, it 

 is well known, that certain tribes expose their aged 

 relatives, or those labouring under incurable disease, 

 to inevitable death. They are said, as we have al- 

 ready seen, to have fed on them of old ; and there is 

 still a tribe dwelling on the island of Sumatra, who, 

 from a religious rite, devour the flesh of their kin- 

 dred. Human sacrifices are yet offered up to the 

 deities of savage nations ; portions of the flesh are 

 presented ; and libations of the blood are raised to 

 the lips of the bystanders. 



It is not long since the Araucanians sacrificed 



