Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-08-09
EATERS OF HUMAN FLESH.
Tho CnnnibaIs OF tho South Sea
Islands and Their Peculiar Ways.


Islands and Their Peculiar ways.
During the period throughout which Euro
pesns have been In contact with the Solomon
islanders. no characteristic has been, per.
haps more common than that Of cannibalisui,
says the Wsstmtister ReOiep. When the
Spsniards first discovered these islands the
man-eating habits Of the natives became
striklncly apparent On the occasion of the
arrival Of the ships NJ the island which its
discoveries PANIED ST. Isabel, the chief OF the
natives that they came iuto contact with sent
the general (Mendans) a present Of a quarter
OF boy including tie arm aud hand to-
gether with some roots. which he had re-
quesied him 10 accept
This custom OF sending a supply Of veec-
tables along with the human flesh as q pres
ent was practieed along the Islands OF the
FIJI group Mariner, In his interesting work
on the Tonga Islands. published In 1872 de-
scribcs how when he arrived In his canoe at
an outlying island OF that group, he found on
the shore large crate OF vegetables with girl
sitting upon It and aseertained that tie two
were about to be presented as the material OF
| y feast TO the king Of tue FIJI islapds- Hap
| ply lie rescued the girl from her impending
late.
Referring 10 the natives OF the island,
which Gallego named La Florida, he sHNs:
"lhey eat human flesh" aud elsewhere he
relates that "thc steward with four soldiers
and five negroes were sent ashore for WATER
that their boats having vet aground they
were immediately attacked b. the natives,
who, lying In ambush, rushed upon them aud
did not leave = single soul except negro
belonging to GallegO; that ''all the rest
they hewed to pieces, cutting of their heads,
arms. and legs, tearing ont their tongues and
suppng up their brains with great feroci,y."
| DIR. Guppy mentions, on tine authority of II.
II. Romiiy, that ''the New Ireland csnnibals
OF the present. day are foad of acompostion OF
| sago. cocoanut aud human bfains.n In ICES
when the ships OF Bougsinvilles expedition
were at Cholseul bay, they were attacked by
$50 natives Ia ten canoes; two canoes were
captured, snd Ia one OF them was fouad the
| jaw OF a man half broalcd." Capt Redlich
master Of the schooner Franz, who visited
| Makira on the south side OF St ChristoyaL
! in 1872, states that he found a dead body In a
war canoe dressed aud cooked whole. lie was
Informed by Perry, n resident that he had
seen as many as twenty bodies lying on the
beach, dressed and cooked In 1865 Mr.
Brenchlev noticed at Wauo, on the north
coast OF this island, the skulls of twenty five
bushmen banging up under the roof of the
TamOu house, all OF which show the effects
of u tomahawk aud all had been eaten"
The natives Of the island OF Santa Anna, at
the time Dr. Guppy visited IL, abstained from
eating human flesh several years ago OH ac-
count OF a severe epidemic OF sickness having
followed Il canibal feast. Nevertheless, Mai
1 the war chief OF this island, has acquired u
/ considerable fortune In a native point of view,
bv following the profitable calling of purvey or
Of human flesh to the nan.eaters OF the ada
cent coasts OF St Christoval-a trade in which
he Is ably assisted by those who accompany
! him on his foraging eXlpditioEsu This chef
! is in the habit OF Keeping human beings whom
he had captured aud fatenng them for the
market Dr. Guppy mentions two prisoners
whom he succeeded IN rescuing from the
hands OF this monster When DIR. Guppy Wis
tied a village on the north coast OF st. Chris
toval, and saw the chief, named Toro, who
received him civllly aud shook hands with
him, he noticed that outside the front OF the
chiefs house five skulls were han cling, while h
belonged to some unfortunate bushmen VIII
had fallen at his hands. On inquiry OF a ma
tive who spoke a little English" SAYS DIR.
Guppy, Il asccrtained that their bodies had
been 'kaied daled'-that is, eaten-although
IT was with little hesitation that he admit.
ted the fact
1.-THE Shorthand natives accredt the Bou.
granville people, who live around the active
volcano at Bagana. with the regular practice
OF canniballsm, aud there can be little dou bt
that this custom is extensively practiced
among the scarcely known bush tribes in the
interior OF this large island. OF the natives
of New Georgia or Rubiana Capt. Cheyenne
AYERS that human flesh forms their chief arti-
Gle OF diet" The doctor observes: at DIFF.
hcult TO speculate on the reflections OF the
victim as lie lives from day to day In constant
expectation OF his fate" There is no reason
to believe that this expectation does not pro-
duce the agonlzlng terror which most Europe.
ans under like circumstances would expert.
ence.
'In the time not far distant, when cannl bal
ism prevailed in New Zealand, 1t was occa-
sonally, at all events, the custom Of a chief
when starting on a war expedition to take
with him fastened together, a number OF men
whom he already held MS csptives; these men
served II living larder Each of them knew
that his turn to be kille aud eaten would
come; nevertheless, with the certainty Of his
doom before him. he partook OF each OF his
fellows whose death preceded his own; and
Capt Wilkes, In his account OF his exploring
expedition, stated that King Thankambau
appropriated one OF the small islands OF the
/ Fiji group as human preserve. Every man
imprisoned there knew that he would uti
mately serve as food for his majesty, aud such
alike were the loyalty and indifference "a
death of these victims that, when question: d
by Capt. Wilkes MS 10 their feelings on the
matter, they expressed kind OF acquiesce n ice
In their fate. and used words TO the effect
that II was quite proper that the king should