44(5 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



dang, and thence came directly up tlie coast to the 

 Batu Islands, Pulo Nias, and this bay. From this 

 village they went up into the interior toward Lake 

 Toba, and when about fifty miles distant they were 

 attacked and killed by the Battas. 



Considering the Mendly reception given the for- 

 mer missionaries, I do not think this journey prom- 

 ised such an unhappy issue. 



The Battas certainly do not eat human flesh for 

 lack of food, nor wholly to satisfy revenge, but 

 chiefly to gratify their appetites. The governor at 

 Padang informed me that these people gave him 

 this odd origin of their cannibal customs : Many 

 years ago one of their rajahs committed a great 

 crime, and it was evident to all that, exalted as he 

 was, he ought to be punished, but no one would 

 take upon himself the responsibility to punish a 

 prince. After much consultation they at last hit 

 upon the happy idea that he should be put to 

 death, but they would all eat a piece of his body, 

 and in this way all would share in punishing him. 

 During this feast each one, to his astonishment, found 

 the portion assigned him a most palatable morsel, 

 and they all agreed that w^henever another convict 

 was to be put to death they would allow themselves 

 to gratify their appetites again in the same manner, 

 and thus arose the custom which has been handed 

 down from one generation to another till the present 

 day. 



For many years after the discovery of a passage 

 to the East by sea, pepper formed the principal 

 article of trade, and even Vasco de Gama, who made 



