CANNIBALISM. 



183 



From the concurring testimony of the three Fuegians above- 

 mentioned, obtained from them at various times and by many 

 different persons, it is proved that they eat human flesh upon 

 particular occasions, namely, when excited by revenge or 

 extremely pressed by hunger. Almost always at war with 

 adjoining tribes, they seldom meet but a hostile encounter is 

 the result ; and then those who are vanquished and taken, if 

 not already dead, are killed and eaten by the conquerors. The 

 arms and breast are eaten by the women ; the men eat the legs ; 

 and the trunk is thrown into the sea. During a severe winter, 

 when hard frost and deep snow prevent their obtaining food 

 as usual, and famine is staring them in the face, extreme hun- 

 ger impels them to lay violent hands on the oldest woman of 

 their party, hold her head over a thick smoke, made by burn- 

 ing green wood, and pinching her throat, choke her. They 

 then devour every particle of the flesh, not excepting the trunk, 

 as in the former case. Jemmy Button, in telling this horrible 

 story as a great secret, seemed to be much ashamed of his coun- 

 trymenj and said, he never would do so — he would rather eat 

 his own hands. When asked why the dogs were not eaten, he 

 said " Dog catch iappo'^ (iappo means otter). York told me 

 that they always eat enemies whom they killed in battle ; and 

 I have no doubt that he told me the truth. 



When the Dutch fleet were in Nassau Bay (1624), a boat's 

 crew were attacked by the natives, murdered and partly eaten. 

 But previous to this (in 1599), Oliver Van Noort had attacked 

 some Fuegians in a cave near a cape, then called Nassau, where 

 he killed several men, and took four boys and two girls pri- 

 soners. 



Jemmy Button told me that there are two tribes of Te- 

 keenica, differing only in situation, who go to war sometimes 

 with one another, though usually at peace; they live east 

 and west, respectively, of some islets in the Beagle Channel, a 

 short distance north-eastward of WooUya. With these two 

 tribes or subdivisions of the Tekeenica there is constant war 

 made by the Yacana, called by J emmy ' Oens-men ; ' but they 

 (the Tekeenica) are sometimes at peace with the Alikhoolip. 



