The Night of Heathenis7n. 
227 
cut her up, cooked and ate her, inviting some of his friends 
to help him, in despatching the horrible meal. As the poor 
woman had given him no offence, his only reason for the 
deed, must have been an insatiable craving for the horrible 
diet He also, very possibly, coveted a reputation for can- 
nibalism. It was asserted that the bodies of women afforded 
tenderer meat than those of the males. 
It was very common for chiefs to devote men to death, 
upon the building of houses, or canoes. Sometimes men 
were killed, to be used as " rollers,^' in the case of launch- 
ing canoes. After the vessels were launched by being 
rolled over the bodies of the victims, feasts were prepared, 
in which these slaughtered ones were greedily eaten. The 
testimony of the early missionaries to Fiji, is that this custom 
universally prevailed. Indeed, it can scarcely be said to be 
wholly extinct now, for in 1867, the bodies of the Rev. 
Thomas Baker, and seven native Christians were eaten, 
near Nasova, by savages, who treacherously surprised the 
evangelistic band, and murdered them in cold blood. 
Although many thousands of trophies of grace are to be 
found in Fiji, heathen tastes, and customs, still survive in 
its dark corners. 
Cannibalism was part of the native religion. It was 
customary to offer the body of a victim, along with all other 
gifts, before each idol-shrine, although some of the priests 
were forbidden to eat of the flesh. In times when the 
supply of slain, or captives had run short, chiefs have been 
known to kill their inferior wives for the purpose. It was 
almost impossible at first to make the natives understand 
that Jehovah, — the true God, — looked in anger upon such 
drink-offerings of blood." Temples (and chiefs' houses as 
well), were built with living men standing beside the posts, 
clasping them in the holes dug to receive them. The earth 
