The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1896-03-07

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force on the Congo, and in his paper
he gave a description of the cannibal
district and a startling account of their
customs. = ....s ~ = E..
After Capt. Hinde had concluded, Mr..
ElWorthy took up the discussion on be-3
half of the cannibal, claiming that his
appetite was not altogether reprehensi-.
BILE and that it Should be in a measure
considered with some leniency because
it had been the origin of the most
solemn of all Christian rites, the Sacra-
ment. He argued that the idea under
lying cannibalism was to be found in a
pr1meval belief of mankind which sup
posed that the person consuming an
other acquired in that way many of the
desirable qualities that had distin-
guished the victim. ~.
He cited the well-known belief on the
part Of certain savage tribes that in
eating the heart of a particularly val.
liant enemy they introduced into their.
own nature the courage they had been
compelled to admire in the man that
was dead. ,.. s#s
OopS. 14AAuS Sd1u CudL
prevailed almost universally through
out the Congo basin, and that instead
of decreasing, it is growing steadily,
and large trade is carried on among
the various tribes in; selling and ex-
changing slaves intended to be eaten.
He stated, also, the heretofore unpub-
llshed fact that women were seldom
eaten, the savages, either from an in--.
nate sense of gallantry or from some
popularity of the palate, prefer males
as & diet, and Furthermore that VIC
tim intended for a feast is never dis
membered before being cooked, but is
roasted entire, the faYorite joints and
portions being sliced off after the sub
ject is done to a turn.
The only exception is that the head
is cut off, kept for several days, and
then made into a stew. The brain is.
considered the greatest delicacy, and
generally goes to the chief. The meat
of human flesh tastes not unlike veal.
The skin is never eaten, because when
baked it becomes somewhat leathery
and tough. That human beings are
CdtSu 4OI duy AS11SlOoo VI oupSAoeA
reason, Capt. Hinde denied, and said it
was done purely for food. .a5..
Cannibals do not eat the flesh OF
members of their Immediate family.
Capt. Hinde told of man who, having
been killed, his two sons handed the
body over to circle of friends who ate
it for them.
The most horrible of all the facts
given by Capt. Hinde was his descrip-
ton of the manner in which cannlbals
prepare victims for eating. It has been
said that some of these people keep a
stock of prisoners on hand, fattening
them until suitable for killing. Capt.
Hinde shows that among the tribes OF
the Bangala race these prisoners are
frightfully tortured under the bel1ef
that it makes their flesh more tender
and, consequently, more palatable.
One method resembles in a painful
degree the way in which the goose IS
prepared for pate de foie gras,. all the
Joints in the man being broken even
to those of his fingers and toes. He IS
then buried up to his neck in a. clayey
earth, while around his temporary
grave huge pits are dug wherein a ire
is kept constantly burning, The heat.
keens the buried man in profuse per-
Tsniration. Men attend to the hres,, SO.
that the temperature may be kept up
until the victim is ready for. Rthelr
ctomach .. s.- =, :,