582 f A M A J c: A. 



.md, wh.it ii iLo/!'..:^cr, by report of Negroes tliemfelves imported 

 tVom that oir.itineut hito our coloi)ies \o]. The difficulty indeed 

 of believing it to be true, is tnuch leireued when we refled: on the 

 fanguinary, cruel temper, and fiithy pra6i:ice> of thefe people, in 

 other refpecTis ; many Negroes in our colonies have been known to 

 drink the bloorl of their enemies with great apparent relifli ; and at 

 Renin, Angola, and other kingdoms, they at this day prefer apes, 

 inonkies, dog's ^cih, carrion, reptiles, and other fubftances, ufually 

 deemed improper for human food, although they abound with hogs, 

 iheep, poultry, nlli, and a variety of game and wild-fowl ; why 

 ihould wc doubt but that the fame ravenous favage, who can feaft 

 on the roaRed quarters of an ape (that mock-maiij, would be not 

 lefs delighted with the fight of a loin or buttock of human flelh, 

 prepared in the fame manner ? This opinion tnuft be ftrengthened 

 by confidering the idea they entertain of the ape fpecies; for they 

 efteem them as fcarcely their inferiors in humanity ; and fuppofe 

 they are very able to talk, but fo cunning withal, that, to avoid 

 N.'^orking, they diffemble their talent, and pretend to be dumb. 



They are moft brytal in their manners and uncleanly in their 

 diet, eating fle{h alrnoft raw by choice, though intolerably putrid 

 and full of meggots. Even thofe that inhabit the fea coaft, though 

 well provided with other viduals, are fo ravenous that they will 

 ■devour the raw guts of animals. The unhealthinefs of fome of the 

 European factories here, has been imputed in great meafure to the 

 abominable cuftom of the natives, of expofmg their h(h to the fun 

 till they become fufficiently ilinking, fly-blown, and rotten. This 

 -caufes a flench, which fills all the atmofphere in the neighbourhood; 

 and, though infupportably oftenfive to the Europeans, it does not 



[y] The exirtence of canibals or man-eaters is now unqueftionably proved, by the late dif- 

 xoveries made by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, in their voyage to the South Sea ; where they 

 found, in the country called "Nevi-Zealand, a people who fed upon human flefh. The author 01 

 '" The Origin and Prpgnj's of language," fays, he is well informed ot a nation in the inland parts 

 of Africa, where human flcdi is expofed to iale in the market, as beef and mutton are among us ; 

 this agrees with the accounts which have been formeily given by fome travelers, and which 

 till latelv have not met with much credit; for this increduhty, the before mentioned ingeniou* 

 author aflit'ns a very fuiTicient reafon. " Thafe, faj-s he, who judge of mankind only by what 

 " they fee of the modern nations of Europe, are not, I know, difpofed to believe this ; but 

 •" they may as well not believe that there are men, who live without cloaths or houfes ; without 

 " corn, wine, or beer; and without planting or fowing." 



2 feem 



