The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1889-12-26
manitouoe pilot.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER, 26, 1889.
NAVIGATING SAVECES.
CannibaIism Among the PepPie of Many
Islands in the South Pacific.

stOrN can ne IOlu Oh lic iou9 tldiH Oh
islands which stretch LOCO miles off
the Australian coast al the way be-
tween New Caledonia and New Guinea.
In the western Pacific cannibalism is
the accepted rule Of life to which all
gladly conform. says W. Churchill in
the n Y Herald, and the trader and
the explorer, whose business and pleas
ure call them to the shores, soon be-
come hardened and learn To view these
repasts with uncoBcern and indincr-
ence. 1t is no eXaggeratlon to say
that in all the Banks. the New He
brides, the Santa Cruz, and the Saio-
mon groups of islands there is not a
single village which does not have its
town ovens for the cooking of the
dead
The settlements of the savages are
uniformly in the blight of little bays
which cut up the coast line of these
Jagged peaks OF volcanic rock and rise
sheer from a ring of cleaning coral.
Here he finds fresh water and a space
on which to grow his cocoanuts, and
the bay supplies him with fish.
Within the bay he IS safe. Fighting is
his rule of life, his delight, if he only
can get sufficiently long odds in his
favor. The villagers in the bay next
him are his sworn foes-literally Ibis
meat" as he is theirs, according to
the varying chances of ceaseless war
fare.
By aybreak the village fleet of war
canoes put ont to sea. With all the Sc
crecy that savage craft can compass,
the fleet steers into the bay where lies
the village to be attacked. Steathily
they march upon the village, in the
hope of catching sleepers unawares.
The attack is made if the chance proves
favorable. Deadly work is done; the
club spares none within its reach, and
women and children and the aged
share the death of the warriors. The
brush is thoroughly beaten for fugi-
tives, and the village green IS heaped
with the bodies of its former villagers,
stacked as wood is corded.
The day break marauders have won
their victory, they have eXterminated
their enemy, and the cords of bodies
must be moved. The fleets of canoes
are brought to the beach; to the stern
of each is made fast q tow of corpses
fastened by ropes about their necks.
No longer BY stealth, but by victorious
shouts and gleeful songs the homeward
voyage is made. The sonoTous ringing
of monster conches give warning of
their approach, and as they open up to
view the matched houses of their vii
LACE the chorus of manly voices carries
the news, We have killed, we have
killed"
How many?" is the questioning
cba4,t +l,t .,b,n-. f,.,,7, I'll,
Then over the water rings out the
number OF the slain, and in proportion
as it is large 50 is the joy OF those
within the village.
With eager haste the bodies are
hauled ashore OFT of the reach of
sharks The women, both old and
young, tail on to the ropes about the
neck of each dead enemy and prospect
i've meat. Some old crone sets the
time, and with wild chorus these wo-
men drag body after body to the viii
lage green over the land and the rough
paths.
The head tabu man now comes upon
the scene in all his glory, usually with
light conical mask upon his head and
a dress of colored leaves OF the fra
grant pandanus. He examines the
bodies laid out before him, aad when
he recognizes the form of some noted
foe his iubitatioas ring from the shore
to the orange-ciad hills above His in
spection concluded and his pick made
OF the body which shall fall to the lot
of his palate, already tickled in autici-
patton of the feast, the butchers come
on and make short work OF the meat
before them. Different islands have
their several customs ot hatchery.
Some carve the meat into joints before
cooking ii, but Malaysia has the fullest
ceremony in this Ialtter. and NAV he
taken as fully descriptive Of the rest.
While the butchers are at their task
of this eyisceration and the hogs ashore
and the sharks in the shadows are
snarling and lighting over their food,
the women are preparing the ovens for
the feast. where the funeral baked
meats are At the same time the funeral
themselves.
Great pits skirt tie end of the village
green, shallow excavations lined with
cobbles, not the work of to-day hastily
dug for this one feast, but pits which
date back for generations to the time
when the first C,tEoe-ioad of savaces
set up these, lis ancestral hcarths In
every pit is cracking hot fire OF dried
branches. As tais kind.iag burns
down into 4 bed Of live Goals husks of
cocoanuts and KNOBS of irouwood are
heaped upon them to make the fire
hotter without flame or smoke, and
stones arc heated on those Goals lust as
the cobbles below are heated almost to
fusing. The disembowlcd are brought
upon the scene. The cooks seize upon
the first. that chosen bv the tabu man.
The cavity o. the chest and belly is
lined with the broad. succulent leaves
of the t&ro; within are packed vans.
sweet potatoes. taro. brcadfruit. and
green bananas, and heated stones are
placed among them. Meanwhile the
pit has been cleared of nj lis Goals.
which burn upon liz brink a glowing
mass Of incandesceaoe. Deft hands.
trained by long practice, wrap the body
in banana leaves and bind it from head
to foot with long. tough paudanus
leaves. \ bed OF sand Is strewn three
inches thick upon the yitriiied cobbles
that line the oven. the body is laid
upon this and covered with sand. the
Goals are ya'led over it. sol is thrown
bNti 0Al. anu the ltESt oven StaltlS 2
miniature cone putting out volcanic
odors Of baked meat. As for the tabu
man. 50 for the chief and warriors in
order the bodies are dressed and the
ovens charged.
All must be eaten fresh anI tough
with the rigor morris or not At all. The
cooks from time 10 time drive bamboo
canes into the Steam:Hr heaps 10 iuiye
of the process of their cookery Two
hours 20 by, the usual time, and the
cooks at last raise a shout that their
work is done. The earth and Smolder-
ing embers are thrown out from the
tabu mans oven, ANA the BODY steam
ing IN lis brown envelope of leaves is
laid open to view. Gently it is raised
upon a hurdle OF reeds and canes. and
the wrappings are cut OF, exposing the
crisp 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 bearers