384 



CANNIBALS. 



i>.nnbals. captive to the manes of their deceased countrymen 

 after a battle. The victorious chief gave the victim 

 a mortal blow ; his heart was instantly cut out by 

 two attendants, and some of the blood sucked by the 

 name chief, who passed it along to the principal war- 

 riors, that they might follow his example. 



Though a banquet of human flesh be horrible and 

 repugnant to those who have never felt the pressure 

 of necessity, it is too well known that hunger obli- 

 terates every sentiment but the desire of self-pre- 

 servation ; nay, in cases of extremity,, it becomes the 

 primary object among men, that some one of a num- 

 ber shall suffer death, that his body may be the 

 means of supporting the rest. Of this, several de- 

 plorable instances have been witnessed in sieges and 

 distresses at sea. During the former, soldiers have sus- 

 tained themselves on the bodies of their fallen comrades; 

 as in that of Sancerre, in 1572, where parents even 

 fed on the bodies of their deceased children. Cases 

 pf the latter are more general, from unexpected cir- 

 cumstances, and the difficulty of providing against 

 accidents, where no resource is to be obtained. Con- 

 lining ourselves to instances of modern date, it may 

 be observed, that the Nottingham, an English ves- 

 sel, was wrecked, in 1710, on a rock called Boon 

 Island, on the coast of America. This happened in 

 the depth of winter ; the place was utterly desert ; 

 and, in a short time, two of the crew perished of want. 

 The body of one was committed to the waves ; but 

 the strength of the miserable survivors being inade- 

 quate to remove the other entire toadistance, whenever 

 it was dragged without the tent which sheltered them, 

 they began to appease their hunger on the raw flesh, 

 for they were destitute of fire. Thus they subsisted, 

 until they were discovered by strangers. In another 

 vessel, which endured dreadful sufferings from fa- 

 mine at sea, in the year 1765, a negro on board was 

 shot, and his flesh broiled, to supply the necessities 

 of the seamen. But this being all exhausted, it be- 

 came necessary that one of the crew should die by 

 lot ; and accordingly the victim was preparing for 

 his latter end, when a ship came in sight. In 1797? 

 the slaves of a ship from the coast of Africa having 

 risen upon the crew, their only chance of escape was 

 by leaping into the boat and cutting her adrift. 

 Twelve in this manner were saved ; who, after eating 

 every thing they could swallow, including their shoes, 

 were obliged to resort to the dreadful expedient of 

 devouring each other. At length having cast lots, the 

 first victim resolutely resigned his life, only requesting 

 to be bled to death, which the surgeon, who had his 

 case of instruments about him on quitting the vessel, 

 proceeded to do. But no sooner had he touched the 

 rein, than he applied his lips to drink the blood as it 

 flowed, and his companions quickly made a repast on 

 the fleah. Yet, from immoderate indulgence, it did 

 not contribute to their general preservation, for only 

 three survived when the boat drifted ashore at Bar- 

 badoes,on the thirty -eighth day after they had left the 

 ship. A similar calamity occurred, and the same re- 

 sources were employed, in 1799, by six men who had 

 lost their course in a boat from St Helena. Being 

 nearly a month at sea, and having suffered incredible 

 distress from hunger and thirst, four of the number 



proposed to sink the boat, that an end might be put Cannibal^, 

 to their misery. But this being objected to, they < ' 

 agreed to cast lots which should be slain for the sub- 

 sistence of the rest, and that the person on whom the 

 lot fell should bleed himself to death. Accordingly 

 one who, being sick of a scarlet fever, was exempted, 

 formed the lots ; and he by whom the fatal one was 

 drawn, cut his veins in three different placi s, the 

 wrist, foot, and hand. Praying forgiveness of hea- 

 ven, he died in about a quarter of an hour. The 

 others supported themselves on his flrsh, until tiiey 

 reached the coast of South America. So lately as 

 the year 1807, when the Nautilus sloop of war was 

 wrecked on a barren rock in the Mediterranean, and 

 most of the crew dashed to pieces or drowned, the 

 body of one was resorted to for the preservation of the 

 survivors. Numerous other instances might be quo- 

 ted, which clearly illustrate that the repugnance na- 

 turally excited amidst abundance, may be conquered 

 under the pressure of necessity : nor has it ever been 

 remarked that human flesh is unpalatable food. 



But there is one most singular fact invariably con- 

 comitant on indulging this cannibal appetite, which 

 is well deserving of consideration. It is uniformly 

 attested by persons in opposite parts of the globe, 

 under various climates, in different circumstances, and 

 where they could have no knowledge of each other's 

 experience, that an uncommon degree of ferocity is 

 speedily generated by feeding on human flesh. A 

 more forcible picture can scarcely be drawn than in 

 the words of the commander of a vessel cast away on a 

 desert shore, whose crew were compelled to adopt 

 such means to preserve their miserable lives. " In a 

 few days I found their very natural dispositions chan- 

 ged, and that affectionate peaceable temper they had 

 hitherto displayed altogether lost. Their eyes were 

 wild and staring, their countenances fierce and bar- 

 barous, and, instead of obeying my commands, aa 

 they had universally and readily done before, I found 

 that all I could say, and even prayers and entreaties, 

 were fruitless. Nothing was now to be heard but 

 brutish quarrels, supplanting that quiet submissive 

 spirit of prayer and supplication which we had hi- 

 therto enjoyed." Yet it is not to be denied, that 

 hunger in itself also renders men ferocious : it enfee- 

 bles their minds as well as their bodies, their na- 

 ture is altogether altered, they view each other with 

 a' malignant eye, and even feel an insatiable desire to 

 feed on their <.wn excoriated members. But a sup- 

 ply of food, though scantily administered, will quick- 

 ly restore them to their ordinary condition. 



It is thus established, by incontestible evidence, that 

 there are various tribes of cannibals subsisting at this 

 moment ; and that it is not unusual f c r mankind, in ca- 

 ses of extreme necessity, to preserve their life, by de- 

 vouring the bodies of their fellow-creatures. See He- 

 radottix, Mela, Strobo, Pliny, var. loc. ; Hseronymus, 

 Aiiversus Joviniantim, lib. ii. Opera, torn. iv. part 2. ; 

 Aiired lie Bella Standardii, ap. Twysden; Scriptorcs 

 decem. p. 1 138; L-,-ry Hist. Narig< lionisinBrasiiiam; 

 Crozet, Nouveau Voyage de M.M. Marian, Ducles- 

 meur, et de Surville\ Rossel Voyage ')'Enlre<:asteuux y 

 torn. i. p. 337; and Bos^u'o Trav. in Louisiana, (c) 



CANNON. See GUNAEKY. 



2 



