Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1852-04-28


ever that follows exposure and extreme
from frost, attacked Bouchette |
With rigor. No mother or wife would
nave shown more wstchfulness than did
This mis-shapen northern girl to man
almost stranger, and no more related
by blood or obligations than any other
of the human race.
He recovered, and returning with the
tribe to La Pointe, his first act was to
search out priest and make her his
wife.
Whether it was mere fancy, excited by
the story of her acts or that in fact, the
rugged and almost deformed physiogno-
nv Of this woman still exhibited traces of
the kindness that reigued in her heart, 1
cannot with certainty assert; but we
thought, after the recital of Bouchette,
that her eye had more gentle express
sion, her voice milder tone, and her
general manner more tender bearing, than
others of her tribe and sex.
Is her husband man-eater? Canni-
balism, dreadful to civilized persons, is
none the less so to the mind of an Indian;
and yet it is not uncommon among them.
There is a superstition among them, that
a man who has once tasted human flesh
becomes possessed of passion for that
kind of food. They imagine that he feels
a new desire, and looks upon young
child, as a drunkard, on the morning af-
ter debauch, longs for his dram. When
Mr., Henry was journeying along the Nor
thern shore of the lake about ITO, a
young man came into his camp from the
head of Gourlais Bay, nearly opposite to
White Fish Point. He had Wild eye.--
His haggard loog to the other Indians was
an evidence that he was man eater
Some one heard him say of the papooses
=" How fat they are P' There was an
odor so offensive that no one could remain
in the same lodge with him. This, they
said. was sufficient evidence that he had
swallowed the flesh of his kindred. But
he denied it. AT length search was made
backward along the trail, and, not many
miles from the shore, hand was found,
partly roasted, upon sharp stake, near
the ashes Of an old camp fire. The party
found other signs of the dreadful repast,
and returning with the hand in their pos
session, the young man confessed that 1t
had formed part of his meal.
He had been in company with two men
and ono woman. twas winter, and star
walton overlook them in the mountains Of
Canada. The two young men agreed to
kill the two others first, and eat them
When this supply was exhausted, they
sat down-both minds intent upon the
deed which was to follow. All the cum
ming of the Indian, his capacity for con-
cealing his thoughts, his strategy and du
plicity, were now brought into action
The life of one staked against the life of
the other such were their secret and
horrible thoughts. They go in turn to
the hills in search of game, yet nothing is
taken. have said that cannibalism is
repulsive everywhere, even where it is
practiced, The inhabitants of tho Aus
traliau Islands do not seem to indulge in
it for pleasure or habit, but as a method
of Cutting savage revenge upon their
enemies, or of gratifying some god who
requires such rites. 1t is thus with the
Northern Indians. The mass of them re-
gard it with horror. But when, after
long exposure to cold and hunger; rabid,
weary and hopeless-when, after enduring
for days, as he knows how to do, and no
sign of relief appears, it is allowable for
party thus situated to decide upon whom
the lot shall fall. The ovcrruling princi-
pie of self preservation, as in the case of
an overladen boat at sea, by general con-
sent determines that there must be VIC
tim, In the North American forest as
on the ocean, the weakest of the party,
some woman, or old man, is first taken.
When Mr.. Henry was engaged in one
pE HE nvnnIttinnp l,n kn koI
great difficulty in protecting a young wo
man from the knife of her companions.
The party to whom our young man of
Gourlais Bay belonged, acted, therefore,
in conformity to ancient and savage Gus
tom, when they came 10 the determination
that one of their number should be made
a sacrifice, The same doctrine, put into
further practice, applied to the weaker
victims, The two survivors were now
about carrying the principle to the last
extremity, and the great question was.
which of them should be the executioner,
and who the sufferer. At last the cum
ming the youngest prevailed, and coming
in from the woods unpreceived, he shot
his companion in the head. 1t was the
hand of this man which was found at the
old camp.
Such is the Indian code; but the man.
eater is, nevertheless an object of dread.
The terrible appetite of which he is sup
posed to be possessed, makes every one
about him uneasy, especially the young
and well favored. His eye, they say,
gloats upon fat girl like that OF a Gagged
and hungry tiger upon raw meat. He
appears to be ready to spring upon the
defonOeless, to crafty the craving of a
stomach vitiated by hunger and unnatu-
raj food. He is, in fact, dangerous, be-
cause, in many instances, delirium sue
ceeds after so much violence done to the
digestive organs. But, on the other
hand, he has a charmed life. No bullet