260 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



hand. Before the day appointed for execution, messengers are 

 sent to all friends and aUies, and preparations made as for a 

 great festival. The victim, tied to a stake, awaits his horrible 

 fate, while the air resounds with music and the clamour of 

 hundreds of spectators. The rajah of the village steps forward, 

 draws his knife, addresses the assembly, relates the crimes 

 which justify the sentence, and says that now the moment is 

 come for punishing the doomed wretch, Avhom he describes as 

 a hellish scoundrel, as a Satan in a human form. At these 

 words the actors in the shocking drama about to be performed 

 feel, as they say, an invincible longing to swallow a piece of the 

 villain's flesh, as they then feel sure that he can do them no 

 further harm, and impatiently brandish their knives. 



The rajah or the injured person, such is his privilege, now 

 cuts off the first piece of flesh, which he generally selects from 

 the inner side of the forearm (this being esteemed the most 

 delicate morsel), or from the cheek when sufficiently fat, 

 holds it up triumphantly, and tastes some of the flowing blood, 

 his eyes at the same time sparkling with delight. He then 

 hurries to one of the fires that have been kindled close by to 

 broil his piece of meat before swallowing it, while the whole 

 troop falls upon the miserable wretch, who, hacked to pieces, 

 and bleeding from a hundred wounds, in a few moments ex- 

 pires. The avidity with which they devour his quivering flesh, 

 untouched by his shrieks and supplications, is the more to be 

 wondered at as in other cases they show themselves susceptible 

 of a tender pity for the sufferings of others. As if scenes 

 like these were not sufficiently horrible, it has even been 

 affirmed that the Battas eat their aged parents alive, but we 

 hardly need the authority of Dr. Junghuhn, who, during a 

 residence of tivo years among the Battaa, only heard of three 

 cases of public cannibalism, that this report has no foundation in 

 truth. So much, however, is certain, that this singular people 

 have a great liking for human flesh, and in all cases where a 

 simple execution takes place seize the opportunity of quietly 

 carrying home some favourite joint. 



The Battas have no priests, no temples, no idols.* They 

 believe in a number of evil spirits, or Begus, who have their 

 seat in the various diseases of the human body, and in a few 

 * Junghuhn, ' Die Battalander.' Berlin, 1847. 



