Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-03-13
THE ANTHRoPoPHAaLN
An Explorer Relates How Cannibals Est
Their Victims. .

The AN1HHoPorHAaAA
IN Explorer Relates How Cannibsls EsS
Their Victims. IA
William Churchill entertained tho
Silver Star Band of Hope yesterday
afternoon with an interesting lecture
on his personal experiences among the
cannibals of Southern Polynesia. Tho
gentleman has been engaged for sew
eral years on a scientific expedition
among the islands of the South Pacific.
and his impressions of native life and
manners are fresh and vivid. In the
first part of his lecture he gave a geo
graphical description of the islands and
located the principal groups. The coral
reefs, he said, were in no wise like those
of the conventional geography. They
are only seen at low-water mark, and
are from ten to fifteen miles from the
islands. The islands rise abruptly out
of the water, some having perpendicu-
lar elevations of five hundred feet. The
climate and luxuriance of vegetation
were next described by the speaker, to-
gether with the dress of the natives,
their food, and houses. As regards
color, the inhabitants of the FIJI islands
are copper-colored; the women are tall,
willowy, and well formed. The son of
one of the Kings of those regions was
six feet two inches tall and weighed
two hundred and forty pounds, and
was the finest specimen of physi-
cal manhood the speaker ever saw.
Farther north the color of the natives
was black, and in New Guinea a char
coal mark was lighter than the tint of
the native skin. There are no canni-
balls in the FIJI group, as is commonly
supposed, no man having been eaten
there for six years. South of the FIJI,
toward Australia, is a group of
ones hundred and eighty islands
known as the Solomon group. In these
islands cannibalism is daily p%racticed.
The speaker related an inciden that hap
pened to him on the island of Mallicollo.
Having landed from his schooner he
approached-the town, which is always
built a few yards from the shore, and
found a number of women seated in :
the largest house. He addressed them
in their dialect, but they would not
speak, though it is as hard for a woman
to keep silence in those regions as it is
in a more civilized communitv. Tho
women left the house, and he followed
them to the shore. where a native had
just landed from his canoe. This man
was followed by about two hundred
| Others in their canoes. who carried
among them a dead native. This man
they had killed in a war on a neighbor-
ing tribe. The man was tied with
grass ropes and carried to a public
square by the women, all taking care
not to touch the body. Three men then
extracted the entrails from the body.
The cavities of the body were filled with
heated stones; then the body was placed
in the hole, and heated stones heaped on
it. After a two hours dance and in
c~antation the body was thought to be
done to a turn, and the body was taken
from its roasting place and carried
around on sticks and introduced to
each warrior. 1t was then placed in q
sitting position and was approached by
the chief, who inquired if it had been
satisfactorily treated, and as the body
did MOI avail itself of the opportunity
of expressing its qualification the priest
of the town answered forit. After this
ceremony the body was cut with
knives of stone used only for sacriicial
purposes.
The choicest morsels of the roasted
flesh, according to the native taste,
were the upper arms and the thighs.
and these human delicacies were re-.
served to tickle the palate of the chief.
The rest of the body was divided
among the warriors, with the excep-
ton of the head, which was given to-
the priest, and the hands and feet,
which was contemptuously handed to
the women. The pieces of human
flesh were all placed on banana leaves
and each nan waited until all had been
allotted their share. Then the toasted
portions were poised simultaneously On
wooden forks and deposited down the
cavernous Threats of the assembled
cannibals, exceeding relish being shown
in the feast of human flesh, though the
next day most of them had the collie.
The greatest car was taken not to
touch the flesh with the fingers. The
leaves of banana were thrown in ;.
large fire, the wooden forks were placed
in a running stream and were allowed
to remain there for three days. The
only men who touched the body were
those who prepared it for cooking, and
these were driven into the woods with
stones, where they were compelled to
stay for three days without eating.
After this probationary period they
were allowed to return, having been
thought to have expiated the fault Of
touching the human remains.-San
Ffenctsco Chronicle.
- The Rone lndustrv.