Chapter II: Part 2

Human bones constituted part of the furniture of their houses, and human hair was used as an ornament in most of their implements of war. The European missionaries who have lived on the islands declare that these people devoured most of the bodies of the slain; and though implicit dependence cannot always be placed on the tales of seamen, it is well to remember that Longsdorf was told by a Frenchman who had resided on one of the islands, that the priests often regaled themselves on human flesh simply from the pleasure derived from its use. At this hour they act as if under the influence of inspiration, and after various contortions of the body, appear to fall asleep. On awakening they relate what the spirit has declared to them in their dreams. The communication made known sometimes is that a woman or a man, a tattooed or an untattooed man, a fat or lean man, an old man or a young man from the next valley or border of the next stream, must be seized and brought to them. Those to whom this revelation comes immediately conceal themselves near a footpath or river, and the first passer-by bearing any resemblance to the description given, is taken and eaten by the priests.

An account of the principal islands of the South Sea left by a missionary named Russell, relates that the charge of cannibalism brought against these remote islanders is not without foundation. A war broke out between two of the islands of the group; the _Chichias_, who were the victors, resolved to signalize their triumph by a great feast. After the usual dancing, the chief gave orders to bring forward the supplies. Immediately the natives advanced two and two, each couple bearing on their shoulders a man barbecued like a pig. As the chief sat on the ground, surrounded by his warriors, the bodies in regular order were deposited before him. They numbered more than two hundred; and when the actual count was publicly announced the assembly gave expression to the greatest satisfaction. Skillful carvers at once cut up the parts dedicated to a particular god, which were reserved for the sacred ceremonies; the remainder was duly apportioned to the anxious and hungry attendants. Although these many captives were offered as sacrifices, in conformity with the ancient religious customs of the tribe; still it is to be remembered that chiefs, warriors, and even the less ferocious members of the company, regaled themselves in royal style on this unnatural food.

In the southern extremity of South America on the shores of the island which form Cape Horn are the Terra del Fuegians, and although they occupy this remote extremity of the American continent, in some respects, particularly in stature, they are like the hyperboreans of the distant north. In form the Fuegians are dwarfish or stunted. Their lower jaws project, the long, straight, black hair hangs down their backs, and in general appearance are repulsive and brutish. Experience has shown them to be savage and deceitful in the extreme. They have been known to have killed the crews of several vessels wrecked on their coasts. Cannibalism prevails also among them, and in times of great scarcity they will feed upon their aged relations, rather than sacrifice and consume their fish-hunting dogs. Though their method of reasoning may be logical, still it is extremely coldblooded, as they say that while the one is merely an incumbrance the other can at worst provide for his own maintenance. As a rule these people eat only the extremity of their friends or foes, and unless pressed for food, owing to certain superstitions among them, will throw the trunk into the sea.

Fitzroy remarks concerning the natives in Terra del Fuego that when they are threatened with starvation, as they sometimes are in the winter season, they will throttle and devour the oldest woman into whose body they can get their teeth. When asked why, when want visited them, they did not kill their dogs, they replied, “Dog catch otter.”

Hakluyt gives Verazzanos’ own account of an expedition made by him to America in 1524. He sailed in a vessel called the Dauphin to the new world, and discovered upwards of 700 leagues of the North American coast. The next year, Hinton says, he made a second voyage, the records of which are equally brief and fatal. Landing on an unfriendly shore with some of the crew, he was seized by the savages, killed and devoured in the presence of their companions on board, who sought in vain to render assistance.

Maffacius and Molina bear testimony to the fact that the _Brazilian Indians_ were cannibals, and they often declared that the flesh of the higher caste had a better flavor than had the flesh of plebeians. The races on the Amazon known under the name of Tapuyos have been represented as devouring every prisoner they could capture, as a sacred duty, and a sacrifice acceptable to the manes of their fallen brethren. Indeed, they practiced a refined cruelty in cherishing and fattening their victims until an appointed day, when they were put to death by a single blow inflicted by a club viewed as sacred. The remote tribes, though leading a more independent life, still retain however much of their former ferocity; they defend their territories, and allow no strangers to enter them under pain of being made a meal of; cannibalism existing among them in all its pristine rigor.

In _Mexico_, a country as old in its geologic formation as any known to science, with mountains higher than any peaks of the Alps, with a climate always equable, and a sky in which the southern cross shines resplendently; even in this land the man-eater has been found. According to Prescott, the Mexicans were not cannibals in a certain acceptation of the term, as they did not feed on human flesh to gratify the appetite. Cannibalism with them in its origin and professed purpose was distinctly religious. That the primary meaning of human sacrifice among them was to present victims to their deities is shown, by the manner in which the sacrificing priest, having torn out the heart, offered it to the sun, and afterwards went through the ceremonies of feeding the idol with the heart and blood. According to the Aztec worship one of their war gods demanded the sacrifice of such prisoners as came into the hands of their captors. In order therefore to meet the needed supplies for the required service, war was frequently engaged in.

Thwing states that within a comparatively recent period, a tribe of Indians inhabiting Texas has indulged in man-eating.

The _Carronkowas_ on Mattagorda Bay greatly harrassed early American settlers by their keen relish for human flesh. There was also a cognate tribe, a remnant of which still exists under the name of _Tonkowas_, which practiced cannibalism as late as 1854. It is affirmed also by a competent authority, Mr. Walker, a resident of this State and formerly an officer in the United States Army, that he had recently seen a returning party of the tribe bring in the remains of a Comanche whom they had slain, and the night was made hideous by the orgies that followed. Ere they separated, the entire remains of the Comanche were eaten.

Knight is said to have found “man-eaters” on the coast of Labrador, where the natives are reported to be mild and inoffensive; they offered to the crews of vessels stopping there human skulls, hands and feet with the flesh hanging upon them, by way of barter, with the same indifference that they would have proffered the flesh of birds or beasts.

Mr. Duncan (who has spent much time on the northern coast of British Columbia) thus describes a scene witnessed by him among a tribe of Indians bearing the name of _Tsimpsheans_: “An old chief had killed a female, and the body was thrown into the sea. Crowds of people were seen to run where the corpse was thrown, when presently two bands of furious wretches appeared and gave vent to the most unearthly sounds. When they came where the body lay, they rushed at it like so many angry wolves. Finally they seized it, dragged it out of the water, laid it on the beach and a couple of the fiends commenced to tear it in pieces with their teeth. The two bands of men surrounded them and hid their frightful work. In a few minutes the crowd dispersed, when each of the naked cannibals appeared with half of the body in his hands. Separating a few steps from each other, the two men finished amid horrid yells their still more horrid feast.”

It is common history that the North American Indians frequently banqueted on the hapless human being who came within the reach of their scalping knives; yet it is well understood that they did not rely wholly upon this kind of food.

Hon. G. W. Schuyler, in his “Colonial New York, (Philip Schuyler and His Family)” makes mention of the following incident related by Colden: “Major (Peter) Schuyler going among the Indians was invited to eat broth with them, which he did with much enjoyment, until he saw one of them draw out from the kettle with a ladle the hand of a dead Frenchman.”

Parkman, in his admirable narratives of the Indians, describes an island on the St. Lawrence which, when visited by Samuel de Champlain in 1610, was swarming with clamorous savages. On the main land the _Algonquins_ of the north and Iroquois of the region now called New York State were engaged in a fierce and deadly conflict, and their yells could plainly be heard in the distance. Heading a band of friendly redskins, composed of the Hurons and a neighboring tribe, Champlain with his brave followers crossed the river to the rescue. The mysterious and terrible assailants, clad in steel and armed with portable thunderbolts, dealt death and destruction around them. The firearms of the whites gave them great advantage, and the defeat of the Iroquois was soon accomplished. As they fled they were shot down by French riflemen; and the only survivors, fifteen in number, were made prisoners. That night scalp-locks were abundant, and torture fires blazed along the shore. The same night the Algonquins had a feast, and the bodies of their defunct enemies furnished food for the banquet. A belief existed among these savages that by devouring the flesh and blood of fallen foes, the eaters became possessed of their bravery. Sometimes the practice was indulged in by reason of religious superstition, but in the opinion of Bancroft it is difficult to determine what religious ideas were connected with this almost universal custom among the Indians of North America.

The _Iroquois_, as all testimony seems to prove, were also cannibals, but they were quite discriminating, and only gratified their appetites with certain qualities of the “genus homo.” Young and tender children, whom they used to geld and fatten, were chosen in preference to tough old pioneers; the most delicate portions were considered to be the hands, feet, arms, neck, and head.

Rev. W. M. Beauchamp in a paper recently read before The Oneida Historical Society, on “The Central New York Indians,” remarked that the Mohawks were hardly habitual cannibals, and yet they came very near it. They feasted on the bodies of braves, hoping to acquire their bravery.

Horatio Hale, in his “Book of Rites,” also confirms the statement that the Mohawks, though not regular cannibals, sometimes regaled themselves on human flesh. Mr. Hale adds that as these Indians became more and more a terror to the surrounding nations, the feelings of aversion and dread awakened by their habits found vent in an opprobrious epithet which the Algonquins applied. They were styled “Mowak,” a word which has been corrupted to Mohawk. It is an Algonquin word, meaning to eat, and applied to food that has had life. Literally it means those who eat men, or in other words, “the cannibals.”

Denonville in his journal makes mention of the cannibalistic propensities of the Mohawks in no very flattering terms. He describes them as opening dead bodies while still warm, and having cut them into quarters like butchers’ meat, placed the pieces in their kettles to boil.

Frontenac, in one of his characteristic documents to his rebellious children of Mi-chillimack-mac, asks, “Will you let the English brandy that has killed you in your wigwams lure you into the kettles of the Iroquois?”

This same renowned representative of Louis XIV., on one occasion even invoked a band of _Ottawas_ to roast an Iroquois newly caught by his soldiers; but as they had hamstrung him to prevent his escape, he bled to death before he could be served up. The Ottawas had a strong craving for human food, and sometimes a tender-hearted Jesuit priest would be missing from his field of labor.

Lonvigny reverts to a spectacle which he witnessed where a number of this tribe fastened a prisoner to a stake and began to torture him; but as the poor wretch did not show sufficient courage, they refused to boil him.

The French missionary Brebeuf gives an account of the fate of certain prisoners captured by the _Hurons_. He states that when the victims showed courage, their hearts were taken out, cut into small pieces, roasted and given to the braves to increase their courage.

The Jesuit fathers, who labored in Canada in the early part of the seventeenth century, give the most explicit testimony to the existence of cannibal tribes in that dominion, and they admit in many cases they were eye-witnesses of their orgies.

Lagard, in his “Voyage des Hurons,” shows that among the _Miamis_ there existed a religious tribe of man-eaters who devoured the hearts of their brave enemies, not from revenge or ferocity, but with the old idea that it inspired the eater with fortitude.

La Potherie observes that in one instance the Ottawas drank broth concocted from the remains of an Iroquois chief who fell into the hands of his enemies. The victim was made fast to a stake, and a Frenchman who was with the Indians gave him a sort of preliminary preparation for the pot by burning him with a red-hot gun barrel.

According to Nadenltoc, Sitting Bull’s band of Sioux Indians opened the breasts and devoured the hearts of the soldiers slain by them. The Creek and Blackfeet tribes are also said by Farrand, a missionary for fifteen years among them, to have eaten their prisoners on the field of battle.

The charge of cannibalism against the members of the Greeley expedition, and the horrors of Cape Sabine are yet fresh in our memory, and the sufferings of the men during that long, bitter winter of 1884 have not half been told. A leading journal in its graphic description of their privations, makes use of this language: “After the game gave out early in February, we have good reason to believe the men were kept alive on human flesh. When the rescuing party discovered the half-starved survivors, their first duty was to look to the two men who were insensible from cold and privation even to the point of death. One of them, a German, was wild in his delirium. ‘Oh!’ he shrieked, as the sailors took hold of him to lift him tenderly, ‘don’t let them shoot me as they did poor Henry! Must I be killed and eaten as poor Henry was? Don’t let them do it! Don’t! Don’t!’ The sailors were horrified, but at once reported the man’s words to Commander Schley. After a brief investigation he felt satisfied that the poor fellow was speaking the truth, and that some of the men who perished had been stripped of their flesh to keep their starving companions alive. When the horrible reality was brought out before an investigating committee, it was not allowed to rest solely on this poor sufferer’s oral testimony. A critical investigation was made by Dr. Ames, the surgeon of the Bear, and others, who made reports in writing, which are now in the Navy Department at Washington. Lieut. Greeley was adverse to having the bodies of the buried dead disturbed, but Commander Schley had a different opinion. The bodies were dug from their graves in the little hill just back of the permanent camp, established in 1883. Most of the blankets contained nothing but heaps of white bones, many of them _picked clean_. The remains could be identified only by the marks on the blankets.

From inquiries it is said that Commander Schley discovered that many of the seventeen men who perished from starvation had been eaten by their famishing comrades. It is reported that the only men who escaped the knife were those who died of scurvy. The amputated limbs of men who afterwards perished were eagerly devoured as food. The death of Charles B. Henry was particularly tragic. As he was a young German without any relatives in this country, he joined Company E, Fifth Cavalry, at Cincinnati. His friends, however, tried to dissuade him from enlisting in this expedition, but as his spirit of adventure was aroused by tales of arctic exploits, he determined to go. Driven to despair by his frightful hunger, Henry saw an opportunity to steal a little more than his share of rations, and he succeeded; but he was found out and shot for his guilt. When the body was discovered, his hands and face though shrunken were intact and recognizable; but nearly everywhere else the skin had been removed and the flesh picked from his bones. Even his heart and lungs were eaten by his comrades. One rib was found shattered by a bullet, and to another small fragments of lead were attached. A bullet hole was also found in the skin.”

We have now come to the end of the story which we have been endeavoring to trace. It is very ghastly, containing nothing specially inviting, with little or no credit to our common nature. Tradition and history, ancient and modern, record in substance the same truth, and show what man early engaged in has been practiced up indeed to the present period. In fact, there are indications whose trend is to make it apparent that the same unholy and unnatural food was indulged in by prehistoric man.

It is not the purpose of the writer, however, here to enter into any discussion concerning the age or origin of the human race. This question will form a subject for a separate paper now being prepared, the title of which will be

PREHISTORIC MAN.

Whewell calls the problems involved in the study of man the palætiological sciences, in which we reason from effect to cause, seeking from phenomena actually existing, to ascertain their origin and causes. Early investigators, like Buffon and Blumenbach, first devoted themselves to a survey of the elements which distinguish him. They laid a basis in carefully classified facts, and their method of study has been fruitful in the science of geology. The subject is truly said to be one of the broadest which can engage the human mind, and man, by his intellectual and moral being, stands above every other form of animal nature, dwelling in a world apart from them all.

With some naturalists the moral and intellectual are sunk into the physical, and those elements which so widely separate man from beast are considered as simply developments of the animal instincts. Many psychologists and linguists, while confining themselves to their own specialties as bearing on man’s nature and origin, have undervalued the labors of their compeers, and neglected the results of each other’s inquiries in drawing their conclusions.

Light is shed on the early history of man, from his relation to the glacial period by Lyell, who contends that there were two ice-ages, with a milder interval between them, covering a period of not less than many thousands of years; while Professor Braun gives to the first ice-age a period of about ten thousand years.

“We measure life by years, but not so God.
A thousand ages are as one short day
With Him. He counts by deeds not fleeting hours,
And he who speaks a gentle word, or gives
A cup of water to a fainting one,
Will count more birthdays in Heaven’s register
Than if he lived a million centuries
Unto himself alone.
Here all our countless actions touch the springs
That send a thrill throughout infinity;
On earth our erring fingers strike the keys
That shall resound in endless cadences
Of harmony or discord evermore.”

But it is a difficult task to review the work of those writers who, by virtue of their greater familiarity with this subject, are more competent to express opinions; and the only justification for the proposed paper lies in the fact that the writer desires to bring together, in as few periods as possible, materials which others have furnished, together with such reports of investigations as have been made by eminent men of science, bearing upon this topic. It may also be suggested that many facts will be added heretofore unpublished, the same having been obtained by means of direct correspondence with various geologists and historians whose names command no little weight in character, original investigation and scientific attainments in Europe and America. It is hoped therefore that these personal labors will not be a recasting of simply old material, but a contribution of new facts and inferences not before given to the public. As the patronage afforded to such a paper would probably be too scanty to make it attractive to publishers, it may be added that it is contemplated to put these results beyond the reach of ordinary dangers, by embodying them in a publication privately printed.

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected typographical errors. 2. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed. 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.