CANNIBALISM IN AFRICA.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVII, Issue XI, 12 September 1896, Page 328

CANNIBALISM IN AFRICA.

Cannibalism has been surprisingly discussed in books of travel, says the Saturday Review. We are told that in such and such a district cannibals are to be found, but we hear no details, neither how the flesh is prepared, what joints are preferred, nor towhat extent the practice is prevalent. Captain Hinde asserts that nearly all the tribes in the Congo basin are or have been cannibals, and that the practice is on the increase, not merely for superstitious reasons, but also for the provision of food. There is a certain sturdy, fat race in Africa, which has never been famous for its prowess, but which is made a regular staple article of diet Whole cargoes are constantly carried up the river and sold to the natives for food. Inquiries for a fresh supply of slaves will often be accompanied by the complaint that ‘ meat is scarce just now.’ The Batetella are described as a fine race, with no old or infirm persons among them. The reason of this is not far to seek, for at the first sign of decrepitude the sufferer is killed and eaten, parents even being devoured by their own children. The members of this tribe consider human flesh the greatest of delicacies, and are ever on the watch for any excuse to kill and eat their comrades. The fate of the individuals is decided by their king. So soon as a victim is appointed to die, mobs collect outside the king’s house and the victim is given over to them alive. But he does not long remain alive, for the people tear him to pieces as quickly as a pack of hounds will make an end of a hare. Each sets himself to cut off liis favourite titbit, and no one makes it his business to kill the victim first, lest a coveted piece should thereby be lost. In some districts men will not eat their own parents, but they will allow them to be eaten by others. This may be due in large measure to the extreme difficulty of protecting a corpse from these human wolves, however determined the intention of protecting it may be. The people there seem to have no religion, and are not to be frightened off from the cemeteries by any kind of fetich. The practice at least has this advantage, that after a battle there is no risk of an epidemic from the putrefaction of the corpses, for like the walrus and the carpenter, the victors ‘eat up everyone.’ After a big battle, in which many prisoners have been taken, human beings have been sold for as little as five or six shillings a brace for eating purposes. Many anecdotes might be told of the naive way in which the inhabitants of the Congo region speak of this little weakness of theirs. * A man will come to your house and ask you to trust him with food, adding ingeniously : ‘ When one of our people dies, we will make a return.’ Or the members of a caravan will say : ‘We know your supplies are rather short just now, and you can’t spare any of your sheep or goats, but you might give us such and such a man ; he is lazy and not worth his keep.’ You make peace and apply for return of prisoners, but you are told : ‘ Very sorry, they are all eaten, save one. If you would like thirty-seven fine cooking slaves in their place, they are very much at your service. ’