28 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



greatest pain, the chiefs in particular displaying this form of self- 

 control to an extraordinary degree. No matter what was done,, 

 the tattooed features of the warrior would remain stolid, grim, and 

 impassive until death relieved him of his torments, or he would 

 reply with scorn to the taunts of his oppressors, defying them t» 

 do their worst. In the words of the poet — 



" The captive cannibal, weighed down with chains, 

 Yet braves his foes, reviles, provokes, disdains ; 

 Of nature fierce, untamable and proud, 

 He grins defiance at the gaping crowd ; 

 And spent at last and speechless, as he lies, 

 With looks still threatening, mocks their rage and dies," 



— Granville (Lord Lansdowne). 



At different places in New Zealand the remains of cannibal feasts 

 may still be found. When collecting Moa bones from the sites- 

 of old Maori camps on the coast to the north of Bream Head 

 I saw many remains of kapura, or ovens, about which were 

 scattered human bones, together with those of the Moa and of 

 seals and fish, and shells of molluscs. The large bones, such as 

 the femur and the humerus, were generally split open, so as to 

 extract the marrow. Remains of human skulls which I saw 

 amongst the sand were beautifully bleached, and the bones of 

 the skulls disarticulated through the action of the weather. At this 

 place I picked up numerous flakes of obsidian, which were used 

 as knives for cutting up flesh. The obsidian was much valued, 

 and was brought from the Bay of Islands district. At one spot 

 I noticed a block of it, which would weigh some 30 lbs. or 40 lbs., 

 which had been used for chipping flakes from. 



At the present time cannibalism is quite common in New 

 Guinea and many of the less frequented islands of the South 

 Seas, notably New Hebrides, New Ireland, Solomon and such like 

 groups. In New Zealand, owing to earlier European, and 

 especially missionary, intercourse, the practice ceased much sooner 

 than in Fiji. It is to the beneficial influence of missionary 

 enterprise that the greatest amount of credit for the present happy 

 condition of the splendid Fijian race must be credited. It speaks 

 volumes for the tact and devotion of the pioneers of missionary 

 work who first entered Fiji that, in spite of all the unbridled 

 ferocity of the natives, and the boldness with which the 

 missionaries mingled with them, only one white missionary was 

 eaten in Fiji. This was a Mr. Williams, who, against the strongly 

 expressed advice of the friendly natives amongst whom he was 

 stationed, persisted in going to the Upper Rewa River, where the 

 Kai colo, or Mountaineers, the most ferocious of all the Fijians, 

 were in a very disturbed state. The result was that he and his 

 party of natives were attacked, killed, and eaten, one man only 

 escaping to tell the tale. With the spread of the lotu, or Christian 



