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 aftirmative. 
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 
