152 CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 



other island (Trinidad) that they had been killed by 

 thunder and lightning, as this was their first ac- 

 quaintance with firearms. But this is one of the many 

 anachronisms of the book ; for at the time " Crusoe " 

 was written (1719) there were no Indians on the 

 coasts of the Americas and the West Indies unac- 

 quainted with firearms. At that time more than two 

 hundred years had passed since the first Spaniards 

 had carried guns and powder thither, and the rude 

 weapons of the aborigines had long since been super- 

 seded by those of the Europeans. Yet all the sav- 

 ages that Crusoe met were armed with "wooden 

 swords and clubs, bows and arrows." 



Upon one point, however, the author of " Crusoe " 

 is correct : that tlie Indians " ate only such as were 

 taken in battle " ; for, like the Aztecs of Mexico, the 

 Caribs, if they were given to the practice of cannibal- 

 ism at all, were merely " ritual cannibals," so called — 

 that is, they ate the flesh of their enemies merely 

 from motives apart from a desire for human flesh as 

 food. If their prisoners were noted for their bravery, 

 they believed that by devouring their flesh some of 

 their valiant quality would thereby be imparted to 

 their own frame, and proceeded accordingly. 



That Defoe was generally accurate in his descrip- 

 tions, and rarely departed from the lines of verity, 

 is shown in all his attempts to depict the environ- 

 ment of his hero ; he never makes a mistake in that 

 direction. 



Finally, to conclusively prove that Man Friday 

 was an Indian of the southern West Indies, I will 



1r 



