88 Cannibalism^ and Customs of' the Battas. 
and with a coolness and deliberation, that I believe to be abso- 
lutely unparalleled. You will have difficulty, I know, in be- 
lieving this, but I tell it you plainly, according to the informa- 
tion we received from the people themselves, who seemed to 
think very little of it. Such severities of punishment mtist of 
course operate to make a crime of rare occurrence ; and another 
check to its frequency is, that the injured party may, if he 
pleases, commute the punishment for a pecuniary compensation, 
which avarice often tempts them to do. In short, it seems tube 
like Shylock'^s pound of flesh, an atonement the party aggrieved 
has a right to, and which he may dispense with if he pleases. 
The Battas are evidently of Hindoo origin, and these customs* 
afford another exmnple of the mild spirit of that religion, which 
denounces damnation on the slayer of a cow or an ant, yet 
makes its sport of human life, and of every affection in our na- 
ture. Formerly it was their practice to eat their parents, when 
they became too old to be useful, but they say that latterly it 
has been abandoned. Now, you will of course suppose, that 
these people are in the lowest state of barbarism to which nature 
can be reduced ; but, strange inconsistency ! it is quite the re- 
verse, and they have even many noble and estimable qualities. 
In point of veracity and sense of honour, they are as much 
superior to the Bengalees, as we are to both. Their deport- 
ment and behaviour is manly and independent. In some things 
their notions are carried to a most extravagant length : a man, 
for instance, must not marry a Woman of his own tribe, but 
must seek a wife in some other tribe, that acknowledges different 
ancestors. The breach of this rule is punishable with eating. 
This is carrying the idea of consanguinity much farther than 
we do. If two men quarrel, and their difference cannot be ac- 
commodated by mediation, they go to war ; but before com- 
mencing operations, they must publicly proclaim the war in the 
fairs, that the other may have proper warning. If a man should 
kill another without this public proclamation of hostility, he 
would be sentenced to be eaten ; but after it, such an act is legal. 
Even then, however, being only a private quarrel, he is not per- 
mitted to eat his enemy, though he may kill him. It is only on 
great occasions, when the whole nation goes to war, that eating 
enemies is permitted. At the fairs, it is a point of honour, that 
