SUMATRA. 
cot take upon rac to afcertaln; but the fame old hiilorianf, who men- 
tion it as pra^tifed by the Bdtias, and whofe accounts were undefervedly 
looked upon as fabulous, relate it alfo of roany others of the eaftern 
people ; and of the ifland of ^ava in particular ; who, fince that pe- 
riod, may have become more humanized.* 
They do not cat human flelh, as a means of fatisfylng the cravings Motives for 
of nature, owing to a deficiency of other food ; nor is it fought after as ^"'^om. 
• a gluttonous delicacy, as it would feem among rhe Nii'st^ Zcalundsrs* 
The BaHas eat it as a fpecies of ceremony ; as a mode of ftiewing their 
deteftation of crimes, by an ignominious punilhment ; and as a horrid 
indication of revenge and infult to their unfortunate enemies. The ob- 
jects of this barbarous repaft, are the prifoners taken in war ^ and offen- 
ftnders convifted and condemned for capital crimes. Pcrfons of the 
former defcription may be ranfomed or exchanged, for which they often 
wait a codfiderable time j and the latter fuifer only when their friends 
cannot redeem them by the cuftomary fine of twenty hnmhangSy or 
eighty dollars. Thefe are tried by the people of the tribe where the 
fa<5t was committed ; but cannot be executed till their own particular 
r^i;.'7, or chief, has been acquamted with the ifentem-ci wLw, whcu he i 
acknowledges the juftice of the intended punifhment, fends a cloth to 
* Mention IS made of the Sattas and their cuftoms, by the following writers, Nicoli di 
Conti T449. Ramufio, »* The Sumatrant are gentiles. The people of Baicah eat human 
fltfh, and tife ttie fkii)Ii of their enemies initead of money, and he is accounteti t^€ grcatcft man 
who ha« the moll of thefe in his boure.'* Odoardu* Buboik. 1519. Raroufio. In Jbu 
(which i* tontiguous to iffl*/ii) ihcy cat human flt'fh.'* — Mendei Pinto, in 1539, was fenton 
an etnfeafly to the king of the Bai&s ^Bciulicuj i6ii. " Inland pcoj>le independent, and 
f|]eak a language different from the Malayan. Idolaters and eat human flelb. Never ranfoni 
prifontrs, but eat them vvfith pepper and fait. Have no religion, but forae polity/' . 
Barros, 1558. *' The gentiles retreated from the Malays to the interior parts of the ifland. 
Thofc who live in that part oppofiie to Malacca, are called Battas, They eat human fiefh, and 
are the m©ft favsge and warlike people of the ifland. Thofe which inhabit to tlie fouth are 
colled Sot^mm and are more eivilizcd'*^ Captain Hamilton. *• The inhabitants of Deliej 
(on a river which runa from the S&tta country) arc faid to be cannibals/' Vartomanus, in 1504, 
writes that the Javans were man-eaters, before that traffick was had with ihcm by Chincfe, 
ivhich the people faid was no more than an hundred year*. The fame cuftom has been attributed 
to the CuiQjf ijiiand of Cambodia, and alfo to the inhabitant* of the CatnlcQbaritinds, 
put 
