The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-11

( this one feast, but pits which date back for
! generations to.the time when the first canoe
/ Lad OF savages set up these, It's ancestral
1 hearJhs. In every pit is cracking hot
| fire of dried branches. As this kindhng
burns down into a bel Of live Goals, husks
| Of cocoanuts and knots Of iron wood are
| heaped upon them 70 make the fire hotter
without flame or smoke, and stones are
heated on these Goals Just as the CO bles g.
low are heated almost 70 fuSing- Ire dis
| embowe ed bodies are brt ught upon the
scene. The cooks Sc ze upon the hrst, that
| chosen by the tabv MAJ. The cavity or the
chest and belly is lined with the broad sue
culent leaves OF the taro, within ara Vacked
| vans, sweet potatoes ta-3, breadt ut and
green ban mas and heated stones are placed
among them. Meanwhile the pit has bsen
cleared of all its Goals, which burn Upon Its
brink. glowing mass Of Incandescence.
Deft hands. trained by long practice. wrap
the body in banana leaves and bind II from
head TO foot with long tough paudalus
leaves. A bed Of sand Is Strewn three
inches thick upon the vitrifed cobbles that
line the oven, the body is laid upon this and
covered with sand, the Goals are raked back
over IL, soil is thrown over all and the first
oven stands a miniature cone putting out
volcanic odors of baking meat. AS for the
tabu man, SO for the chief and warriors in
order, the bodies are dressed and the ovens
charged.
RECIPE FOR COOKING ''LoNG PIG"
All must be eaten fresh and tough with
the rigOr morris or not at all. The cooks
from time to time drive bamboo canes into
the steaming heaps TO judge of the progress
OF their cookery. Two hours go by, the
usual time, and the cooks at last raise
shout that their work Is done. The earth
ana smOulderiug embers are thrown out
from the tabu mans oven and the body,
steaming in its brown envelope of leaves, is
laid open to view. Gently it is raised upon
hurdle Of reeds and canes, the wrappings
are cut of exposing the cri7p and brown
outside pieces of the meat. Lucky the man
whose victim has been chosen by the tabu
man, for great is now his honor The bear
ers lift the body on its hurdle to their
shoulders, the tabu man goes before, the
lucky fighter dances after in all his fight
ing gear. Around the green the toothsome
procession is made.
This ceremony ended, the chiefs oven is
opened and his food placed before him.
The other ovens are opened with a hurried
rush OF women and children, all content to
dig away the earth and hot stones for the
eager delight of uncovering the juicy
roast They feed in messes in an orderly
enough fashion, and there is no scene of
rending the flesh and gnawing the bone,
such as the Imagination pictures cannibal
repast.
The flesh is Grips and white in appearance,
something midway between veal and pork
with sufficient resemblance to the lat
ter to justify its almost universal euphem-
ism Of ''long pig" or in some few cases,
"long dog" The bodies are carved by
splints of silvered bamboo, which replace
knives in the habits of these people
sFSome ceremony is observed in the distri-
button of the bodies which are cooked for
Nkxa- Sc . H. n. II
himself certain parts which are supposed to
endow him with the manhood and strength
of the original owner, aud In the main these
parts are tabu to women. The rest of the
body is cut up and distributed by the mill
tary and superstitious heads of the commu-
nifty to warriors whom they particularly de-
sire to honor. There is in the members OF
the body no apparent distinction, and indis
vidual and gastronomic taste alone governs
the distribution. The thighs ara naturally
most sought after, then the ribs and next
the upper arms; the skins and forearms are
less considered, and after these Joints are
cut off there is little choice in the re-
mainder. The fingers and toes are ALWAYS
claimed by the children as delicacies, and
the women always get the heads, hands and
feet. The feast ends when the last of the
meat is eaten, and the village returns to its
usual diet.
WHITE MEMS FLESH NOT PREFERRED.
What chance does a white man have of
being eaten in the Western Pacific?
An excellent one indeed. Not that thu
people will view him primarily as an article
of diet and rush wildly to put him to use in
that particular, but they will incline to kill
him as an intruder and dangerous to their
peace, and once killed no will certainly go
to pot in its most restricted sense.
Commands profess not to like the white
mans flesh 0s we'll as that of the native.
and found their objection upon his salti-
ness. The islanders are learning that the
murder OF white is likely to bring retribu-
tion in its train, and so refrain from molest-
ing him without cause, but trifes may seem
to them good cause, and the white man is
dubbed and eaten.