The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-04-22
EATING HUMAN FOOD.
How African Cannibals Devour
Their Fellow Men.
Different Methods of Preparing ana
Cooking Those Enemies whom
They XIII In war and Those whom
They Massacre by stealth.

Mr.. p A. Mccain, who spent seven
years among the cannibal Mpongwes of
Africa. tells some grewsome stories of
their man eating methods.
He gives also a description OF most re-
markable lake, which, although only about
IS miles from Kumassi, has only been Wis
tied by one or two white men. 1t IL called
Bosomshwi, meaning god water" and IL
held sacred by the Ashnntees when my
guide told me of the wonders Of this lake, "
said Mr.. MeCaun, Il resolved to visit IL
and get some pictures. In this was very
successful. 1t Is IL miles In diameter but
its depth no ono knows The Ashanti
King every year drowned 100 of his slaves
in the lake ns sacrifice to the water god
The bodies were never cast up again, and
think they must have been eaten by the
fish.
I'm the breeding season shoals OF dead
fish are thrown up and collected by the
natives There are 30 villages and towns
on the shores of the lake. No canoe is al
lowed on it, and the Ashantccs keep IL sa-
cred from any kind of pollution. There
are logs or poles on it, and the natives sit
astride of these and paddle with their
hands. believe | am the only white man
VINO ever Ntnb Ou lht iuhNt bhA ~ iAtRlAf
cost me my life. No one would take me
In fact every attempt was made to pre-
vent me. but | arose at dawn one morn
ing, and, with few logs constructed as
raft. / was out on the water before any
one knew. When came in again, how
ever, there was great excitement.
1.-The chiefs had collected, and l was
threatened with all manner of pains and
penalties l knew that my only chance
was bluff, so in indignant tones ] told
my Interpreter that the slightest interior
ence with me would bring down the sol
diers and destroy the whole of the place
This had wonderful effect They begged
me not to say a word TO the soldiers, and
the leading chief brought me as present
fine sheep My inquiries about the lake
led me to conclude that it is really vol
oanio crater, and as such would be the lar
gest known. Rumblings of earthquakes
were still often heard, and this the natives
believed was the god of the water giving
expression to his anger.
1.-The crater must have been thousands
of feet deep, and the tropical rains of years
have filed It, The natives use the water
for drinking and all purposes, but no
washing or any kind of pollution is per-
mitted in the lake itself In the midday
the sun is SO hot that great evaporation
takes place--in fact, there is u thick mist
-. ,,;..,,,,,,, 80, ~, ,,o+o,,
Tho Mpongwes, cannibals of the most
pronounced type, thickly inhabit the
banks and forest regions of the Gaboon
and Elobey rivers. Although they kill
game for food, they much prefer human
meat to any other. When questioned
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