DEC. 1769 CANNIBALISM 205 



themselves up into a kind of artificial courage, which does 

 not allow them time to think much. 



1st December. It is now some time since I mentioned their 

 custom of eating human flesh, as I had been for a long time 

 loth to believe that any human beings could have among them 

 so brutal a custom. I am now, however, convinced, and shall 

 here give a short account of what we have heard from the 

 Indians concerning it. 



At Taoneroa, where we first landed, the boys whom we 

 had on board mentioned it of their own accord, asking 

 whether the meat they ate was not human flesh, as they 

 had no idea of any animal so large, except a man, till they 

 saw our sheep. They, however, seemed ashamed of the 

 custom, saying that the tribe to which they belonged did 

 not use it, but that another living very near them did. Since 

 then we have never failed to ask the question, and we have 

 without one exception been answered in the affirmative. 

 Several times, as at Tolago and here, the people have put 

 themselves into a heat by defending the custom, which 

 Tupia, who had never before heard of such a thing, takes 

 every occasion to speak ill of, exhorting them often to 

 leave it off. They, however, universally agree that they eat 

 none but the bodies of those of their enemies who are 

 killed in war ; all others are buried. 



3rd. Many canoes visited us in the morning; one very 

 large carrying eighty-two people. Dr. Solander and myself 

 went ashore ; we found few plants, and saw but few people, 

 but they were perfectly civil. We went on their invitation 

 to their little town, which was situated at the bottom of a 

 cove, without the least defence. One of the old men here 

 showed us the instrument with which they stain their 

 bodies; it was exactly like that used at Otahite. We 

 saw also here a man who had been shot on the 29th while 

 attempting to steal our buoy. The ball had gone through 

 the fleshy part of his arm and grazed his breast. The wound 

 was open to the air, without the smallest application upon 

 it, yet it had as good an appearance, and seemed to give 

 him as little pain as if it had had the very best dressing 



