CANNIBALISM. 371 



meals of human flesh ; all people appear to have done so, 

 who have once overcome the natural horror which must, one 

 would suppose, have been at first experienced. But the 

 cannibalism of a New Zealander was a ceremony, not a meal ; 

 the object was something very different from mere sensual gra- 

 tification ; it must be regarded as a part of his religion, as a 

 sort of unholy sacrament. This is proved by the fact that after 

 a battle, the bodies which they preferred were not those of 

 plump young men, or tender damsels, but of the most celebrated 

 chiefs, however old and dry they might be,* In fact, they 

 believed that it was not only the material substance which 

 they thus appropriated, but also the spirit, the ability, and the 

 glory of him whom they devoured. The greater the number 

 of corpses they had eaten, the higher they thought would 

 be their position in the world to come. Under such a creed 

 there is a certain diabolical nobility about the habit, 

 which is, at any rate, far removed from the grovelling sen- 

 suality of a Feegee. To be eaten was, on the other hand, the 

 greatest misfortune that could happen to a New Zealander ; 

 since he believed that the soul was thus destroyed as well as 

 the body. The chief who could both kill and devour his enemy 

 had nothing more to fear from him either in this world or 

 the next ; on the contrary, the strength, ability, and prestige 

 against which he had had to contend, were not only con- 

 quered, but, by this dreadful process, incorporated with, and 

 added to his own. 



In other cases slaves were killed and eaten in honor of 

 the gods. The New Zealanders declared that criminals alone 

 were thus treated. Even if this was the case, the custom was 

 horrible enough ; but religious persecutions have scarcely 

 ceased in Europe even now, nor is it so very long since the 

 fire and the stake were regarded as necessary for the preser- 

 vation of Christianity itself. E'hongui evidently considered 

 * D'Urville, vol. ii., p. 547. 



