MUTILATIONS. 53 



hewn from tlie four corners of the [Tali] mountain, as the 

 most formal expression of his desire to become feudatory 

 tc the British Crown. &quot; 



This giving a part instead of giving the whole, where 

 the whole cannot be mechanically handed over, will perhaps 

 be instanced as a symbolic ceremony; though, even in the 

 absence of any further interpretation, we may say that it 

 approaches as nearly to actual transfer as the nature of the 

 case permits. &quot;We are not, however, obliged to regard 

 this ceremony as artificially devised. We may affiliate it 

 upon a simpler ceremony which at once elucidates it, and 

 is elucidated by it. I refer to surrendering a part of the 

 body as implying surrender of the whole. In Fiji, tribu 

 taries approaching their masters were told by a messenger 

 &quot; that they must all cut off their tobe (locks of hair that 

 are left like tails). . . They all docked their tails.&quot; Still, 

 it may be replied that this act, too, is a symbolic act an 

 act artificially devised rather than naturally derived. If 

 we carry our inquiry a step back, however, we shall find a 

 clue to its natural derivation. 



First, let us remember the honour which accrues from 

 accumulated trophies; so that, among the Shoshones for 

 instance, &quot; he who takes the most scalps gains the most 

 glory. 77 Let us join with this Bancroft s statement 

 respecting the treatment of prisoners by the Chichimecs, 

 that &quot; often they were scalped while yet alive, and the 

 bloody trophy placed upon the heads of their tormentors.&quot; 

 And then let us ask what happens if the scalped enemy sur 

 vives. The captor preserves the scalp as an addition to his 

 other trophies; the vanquished enemy becomes his slave; 

 and he is shown to be a slave by the loss of his scalp. 

 Here, then, are the beginnings of a custom that may be 

 come established when social conditions make it advanta 

 geous to keep conquered foes as servants instead of eating 

 them. The conservative savage changes as little as possi 

 ble. While the new practice of enslaving the captured 

 62 



