CHAPTER XIII NOTES
[280.1] Herod., iii. 38, 99.
[280.2] Ibid., i. 216; iv. 26. Father Favre identifies the Padaioi with the Battas of Sumatra (Favre, Wild Tribes, 5), and Major Rennell the Issedones with the Oigurs or Eluths, a Mongol tribe conquered in the last century by the Chinese (G. Busk in ii. Journ. Ethn. Soc., N.S., 80, citing Rennell’s Geographical System of Herodotus). These identifications, however, must be regarded as doubtful.
[281.1] Strabo, xi. 11, § 8; iv. 5, § 4.
[281.2] Marco Polo, lxi.
[281.3] Marco Polo, clxxvi.
[282.1] Maundeville, xviii., xix., xxxi.
[282.2] iii. Mélusine, 505, citing Friar Jean du Plan de Carpin and others; Vos, in iii. Internat. Archiv, 70, citing Plan de Carpin and another Franciscan, W. Rubruk.
[282.3] In Asia. Certain tribes of the interior of Siam, Barbosa, 190; the Birhors of Chutia Nágpúr (Bengal), Dalton, 158, 220; iii. Mélusine, 409; the Gonds, Featherman, Tur., 117 note, citing Rowney’s Wild Tribes of India; the Samoyeds of Siberia, iii. Internat. Arch., 71.
In the East Indian Islands. Sumatra, the Battas, Favre, Wild Tribes, 5; viii. Mélusine, 410; ii. Churchill’s Voyages, 180; Featherman, Papuo-Mel., 336 note (Marsden, however, says nothing about it, and the most recent traveller denies it. Modigliani, Batacchi, 152, 181); Philippine Islands, the Montescos, Featherman, ibid., 499; Floris, the Rakka, ii. Journ. Ind. Arch., 174 (these statements are discredited in a note by the editor of the Journ. Ind. Arch., I do not know on what ground); ii. Yule, 236, 240, citing various authorities.
In Australia. Dawson, 67; iii. Journ. Ethn. Soc., 29; ii. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 179; xiii. ibid., 135, 298; xxiv. 171, 182; iii. Trans. Ethn. Soc., N.S., 248; Featherman, Papuo-Mel., 157, 160 note, 161; Letourneau, L’Év. Rel., 35, citing Taplin; ii. Curr, 18, 63, 119, 331, 341, 346, 361, 367, 404, 432, 449; iii. 21, 138, 147, 159.
In Africa. Congo tribes, iii. Mélusine, 433; Maniana, Winwood Reade, 160, citing Mollien; Manyuema, Andree, Anthropophagie, 41, citing Wissmann.
In South America. Various tribes in Brazil, ii. Churchill’s Voy., 133, 135; ii. Dobrizhoffer, 271; iii. Mélusine, 459; Featherman, Chiapo-Mar., 332, 344, 348, 355; xxiv. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 248, 249, 253; of Peru, i. Garcilasso, 56; ii. 274; i. Anthr. Rev., 38; Brinton, Amer. Race, 290; Featherman, Chiapo-Mar., 423; of Guiana, Featherman, ibid., 221.
There is a Gipsy tradition of a supernatural race of cannibals of this kind, where the habit may be a trait borrowed from some tribe with which they have actually come into contact in their wanderings. Von Wlislocki, Volksgl. Zig., 31.
Let me add an observation here. Among many savage nations it is not usual to wait the convenience of the aged before dining off their bodies. They are slain for the purpose. Relics of the custom of putting the aged to death are still found in Europe. It is remarkable that in Scandinavia, as witnessed by Du Chaillu, the displacement of the old man in favour of his son takes place at the table. This, though not a funeral rite, points to cannibalism of the kind discussed in the text. Du Chaillu, i. Midnight Sun, 393. See also Gomme, in i. Folklore, 197; vii. Rev. Trad. Pop., 153, 287; xii. Archivio, 504; i. N. Ind. N. and Q., 205.
[284.1] Featherman, Chiapo-Mar., 31, 417. Mr. Featherman throws doubt on this latter instance, because it “is reported by a Jesuit missionary.” Surely this is carrying scepticism to an unwarranted length. The report of an objective fact like this by no means stands on the same footing as another, by apparently the same missionary, that “the Ucayali Indians believe in a creator of the universe,” to which he takes exception, probably with greater justice. In neither case is there, so far as I know, any reason to suspect that the missionary is intentionally misleading his readers.
[285.1] iii. Bancroft, 414, citing various authorities; 297 et seqq., quoting Torquemada.
[285.2] Winwood Reade, 160; Featherman, Nigritians, 260, 262; Du Chaillu, Eq. Africa, 84, 88.
[286.1] Schneider, 135, apparently quoting the report of an English engineer, not named, from Das Ausland, 1888.
[286.2] Featherman, Oceano-Mel., 243.
[286.3] Featherman, Chiapo-Mar., 355.
[286.4] Powers, 181.
[287.1] Wallace, 346. See also Brinton, Amer. Race, 267; Müller, Amer. Urrel., 289; iii. Trans. Ethn. Soc., N.S., 158, 193.
[287.2] i. Bancroft, 76.
[287.3] Codrington, 221; x. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 285; F. Bonney, in xiii. ibid., 135; A. W. Howitt, in xvi. ibid., 30, 35. The Koniaga practice also perhaps has its basis in magic.
[287.4] Featherman, Papuo-Mel., 74.
[288.1] Garnett, ii. Women, 263.
[288.2] Statements of Miss Garnett and the Rev. Dr. Gaster, cited iii. Folklore, 154.
[288.3] Mr. W. R. Paton in a letter to me dated 17th June 1892. As to repetition of the Kólyva cakes, see Rodd, 126; Garnett, i. Wom., 99. The times of the commemorative repetition vary a little in different places. Compare with this the Sicilian custom of eating on the second of November (the festival of All Souls) sweetmeats impressed with images of skulls, bones, skeletons, souls in Purgatory and the like. This is called eating the dead. i. Rivista, 239. A similar custom at Perugia. Ibid., 322.
[289.1] Plutarch, Rom. Quest., 65; Jevons, xci.; De Gubernatis, ii. Myth. Plantes, 134; Pliny, xviii. 30.
[289.2] ii. Laisnel de la Salle, 83.
[289.3] ii. Rivista, 65.
[289.4] Ostermann, 489, 482.
[290.1] C. Guerrieri, in i. Rivista, 314. A plateful is set aside for the dead, and afterwards eaten by one of the family.
[290.2] Monseur, 41. My knowledge of the Welsh custom depends on the statement of a Radnorshire woman to my brother-in-law, the Rev. W. E. T. Morgan, Vicar of Llanigon. It perhaps requires confirmation.
[290.3] O. Nemi, in i. Rivista, 959.
[290.4] Garnett, ii. Women, 496.
[290.5] Featherman, Tur., 205.
[290.6] Codrington, 272.
[290.7] Featherman, Aram., 621. In Barbary cooked food is distributed among the poor on the evening of the burial. This is called the supper of the grave. Ibid., 511.
[291.1] Featherman, Tur., 540. To these we may perhaps add the Patagonian custom of killing the horses of the deceased and distributing their flesh among his relations. Ibid., Chiapo-Mar., 495.
[291.2] Atkinson, 227; iii. Arch. Cambr., 4th ser., 332; Gent. Mag. Lib. (Manners and Cust.), 70; ii. Cymru Fu N. and Q., 271, 275. See also ii. Antigua, 188, where “dyer bread” and “biscuit cakes” (species of pastry) are said to have been formerly handed round at Negro funerals on the island, enveloped in white paper and sealed with black wax.
[292.1] iv. Folklore, 392.
[293.1] iii. Pennant, 150.
[293.2] Aubrey, Remaines, 23, 24.
[294.1] Aubrey, Remaines, 35. Ellis reprints from Leland’s Collectanea a letter from a Mr. Bagford, dated 1st Feb. 1714-15, giving a slightly varied account, also professedly derived from Aubrey, of the rite as practised in Shropshire. The fee is stated as a groat. ii. Brand, 155.
[294.2] iii. Arch. Cambr., N.S., 330. Traces of a similar custom are found in Derbyshire. There no wine is drunk at a funeral until after the party has returned from the church. Wine is then offered first to the bearers. This order is strictly observed; and it is believed that “every drop that you drink is a sin which the deceased has committed. You thereby take away the dead man’s sins and bear them yourself.” Addy, 123, 124.
[296.1] Burton, Sindh, 350, 354.
[296.2] iii. Mélusine, 409, quoting M. Dubois’ work as cited in the Annales de la Propagation de la Foi for 1830. Mr. Frazer cites this case (ii. Golden Bough, 155) and some others from India, all of which I believe are referable to the same origin, though he interprets them by reference to the idea expressed in the Mosaic Scapegoat. His attention probably had not been drawn to the parallel cases I cite above and below.
[297.1] Dr. M. Hoefler, in ii. Am Urquell, 101. In an article on the Sin-eater in iii. Folklore, 150, I quoted Wilkie’s description of the Lowland Scottish rite called Dishaloof, and expressed the opinion that it belonged to the same order of thought as the rites now under discussion. Though I adhere to that opinion, I have not met with any thing which illustrates the mysterious details of the rite; and I have, therefore, thought it well to avoid burdening these pages with particulars that I cannot correlate. Mrs. Gomme has exhaustively analysed a children’s game called Green Grass, apparently connected with the Lowland rite; but the results attained do not help here. i. Traditional Games, 153. See Henderson, 53.
[298.1] Quoted in ii. Brand, 153 note.
[299.1] Denis H. Kelly, in i. Journ. Kilkenny Arch. Soc., N.S., 31 note. Smoking round the corpse was a part of the ceremony in North Wales in the last century. Owen, Crosses, 56.
[299.2] Mr. W. R. Paton, in letters to me as before, and in letter dated 25th May 1894. Bread or money is distributed by the beadle at the gate of the cemetery on the island of Lesbos. Georgeakis, 321. In Sardinia grain or money is given to the poor who assist at the funeral mass. G. Calvia, in i. Rivista, 953.
[299.3] Guhl and Koner, 594.
[300.1] Possibly this is because no fire is lighted in the house of death, as in Calabria, where all food for this reason is provided by the relations and friends for a whole month, i. Rivista, 383.
[300.2] i. De Nino, 130; Finamore, Trad. Pop., 94. In country-places of Sanseverino, when the relatives and neighbours have wept over the body, as soon as it is taken out of the house they sit down to table, talking the while of the virtues and defects of the dead. i. Rivista, 79.
[301.1] Töppen, 95, 103.
[302.1] ii. Laisnel de la Salle, 81, 82.
[305.1] Featherman, Turanians, 520.
[305.2] i. Hanway, 101.
[305.3] Batchelor, 205.
[306.1] i. De Groot, 115, 197, 227, 229; i. Doolittle, 180.
[306.2] ii. Doolittle, passim.
[306.3] F. Grabowsky, in ii. Internat. Archiv, 180; iii. Journ. Ind. Arch., 150.
[306.4] Von Wlislocki, Volksgl. Zig., 99.
[306.5] Sibree, 240, quoting Rev. R. T. Batchelor, in Antananarivo Annual.
[307.1] Featherman, Tur., 108.
[307.2] Codrington, 255, 259, 271, 284.
[307.3] i. Macdonald, 111.
[307.4] Featherman, Nigr., 375. Why the fowl should be spared if it refuse to eat I do not quite understand. Compare, however, similar divination in India. Crooke, 164; i. N. Ind. N. and Q., 33.
[307.5] ii. Rep. Austr. Ass., 322.
[308.1] Featherman, Papuo-Mel., 34.
[308.2] Prof. Haddon, in xix. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 421.
[309.1] F. Fawcett, in v. Folklore, 30.
[309.2] Featherman, Tur., 506 note, quoting Fahne’s Livland; ibid., 459. The Koraiks of Siberia also kill and eat the reindeer which have drawn the body to the funeral pile, throwing the remains of the repast into the fire. Georgi, 99.
[309.3] Featherman, Chiapo-Mar., 461.
[309.4] vi. Rep. Bur. Ethn., 614, quoting Hall.
[310.1] Tanner, 288, 293.
[310.2] Featherman, Tur., 541.
[310.3] Featherman, Papuo-Mel., 399.
[310.4] Featherman, Tur., 230, 244.
[310.5] Julian Ralph, in lxxxiv. Harper’s Mag., 176.
[311.1] Ellis, Yoruba, 159.
[311.2] Georgi, 92.
[311.3] Featherman, Tur., 265.
[311.4] Sir J. Lubbock, in iii. Trans. Ethn. Soc., N.S., 318; Canon Greenwell, in lii. Archæologia, passim.
[311.5] Featherman, Nigr., 694.
[311.6] Ellis, Yoruba, 158.
[312.1] Marshall, 177, 185.
[313.1] i. Rep. Bur. Ethn., 145, 200.
[313.2] Featherman, Oceano-Mel., 406.
[313.3] Featherman, Nigr., 291; Sibree, 241, quoting Guillain, Documents sur la partie occid. de Madagascar; Bourke, 263, quoting Smyth, Aborig. of Victoria; ii. Rep. Austr. Ass., 322; xxi. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 484, 356, 316; Fison and Howitt, 243.
[314.1] Codrington, 268; iii. L’Anthropologie, 349, citing and reviewing Van Hoevell in the Tijdschrift voor indische taal-land- en volkenkunde; Modigliani, 281, citing Rosenberg and quoting Piepers.
[314.2] Backhouse, 105.
[314.3] Dr. Sims in Anthropologia, 213; i. Bancroft, 347; i. Rep. Bur. Ethn., 151.
[314.4] Stevens, 373 note, citing Bull. Amer. Ethnol. Soc.
[314.5] i. Bancroft, 76.
[315.1] A. Skrzyncki, in v. Am Urquell, 208.
[315.2] F. Grabowsky, in ii. Internat. Arch., 199, citing several authorities.
[315.3] i. Bancroft, 731, 744.
[316.1] A. W. Howitt, in xiii. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 190.
[316.2] Fison and Howitt, 244. Other Australian examples may be found in i. Curr, 89, 272; ii. 249, 476; iii. 22, 28, 65, 79, 147, 273; xxiv. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 182, 185, 195.
[316.3] xxi. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 482, citing a Government despatch.
[316.4] Mouat, 327.
[316.5] Dawson, 65, 63.
[316.6] Kane, 243; i. Journ. Ethn. Soc., 249; i. Bancroft, 126; i. Rep. Bur. Ethn., 145.
[317.1] Mouat, 327; E. H. Man, in xii. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 86, 142, 401, 402; Prof. Owen, in ii. Trans. Ethn. Soc., N.S., 37; E. Palmer, in xiii. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 298; Prof. Haddon, in v. Folklore, 320, citing Annals de la Propag. de la Foi; ix. Rep. Bur. Ethn., 485, citing Smyth; Dawson, 65; Featherman, Papuo-Mel., 157, 162; Roth, 76; Backhouse, 84; ii. Rep. Austr. Ass., 605; Featherman, Oceano-Mel., 193. The widow of an Uraba preserved the hinder part of his skull; but did she wear it? i. Bancroft, 783. In the same way Speke, 500, leaves us in doubt whether the lower jaw of a chief of the Wahuma, and the finger-bones and hair of an officer of state, were worn by anybody. Probably the former was, as it was adorned with beads. M. Du Chatellier gives an account of a skull of the bronze age unearthed in Brittany, from which a considerable piece had been cut after death on the right side. E. Cartailhac, in v. L’Anthropologie, 266, citing and reviewing an article by the learned Breton antiquary. This is not quite a singular case, and probably points to the antiquity of the practice under discussion.
[317.2] Issedones, Herod. iv. 26. Krumen of the Grain Coast, W. Africa, Featherman, Nigr., 291. Andaman Islanders, ii. Trans. Ethn. Soc., N.S., 37. Dorah Papuans, Featherman, Papuo-Mel., 34. Islanders of New Britain and adjacent islands, Powell, 10, 165, 251. Torres Straits Islanders, Prof. Haddon, in xix. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 307, 405, 416, 421, 422, and vi. Internat. Arch., 153, 159, 161; Fur. Corresp., April 1891, 198. Admiralty Islanders, xxi. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 5. Philippine Islanders, Featherman, Papuo-Mel., 475. Santa Cruz Islanders, Codrington, 264. Banks’ Islanders, ibid., 267. Solomon Islanders, ibid., 254, 257, 262. People of Ambrym, New Hebrides, ibid., 288 note. Loyalty Islanders, Turner, Nineteen Years, 400, 463. New Caledonians, ibid., 425. Maories, Featherman, Oceano-Mel., 194. Gilbert Islanders, ii. Internat. Arch., 43. Tahitians, Ellis, i. Pol. Res., 401, 406, 270, 272. Sandwich Islanders, Ellis, iv. ibid., 359. Mosquito Indians, Featherman, Chiapo-Mar., 154. Caribs, ibid., 277; Sir R. Schomburgk, in i. Journ. Ethn. Soc., 276. Orinoco tribes, Featherman, Chiapo-Mar., 301. Vancouver Islanders, Bogg, in iii. Mem. Anthr. Soc., 265. Congarees of South Carolina, i. Rep. Bur. Ethn., 132, citing Schoolcraft. Iroquois, ibid., 169, citing Morgan.
[318.1] Herod. iii. 24; Strabo, xvii. 11, § 5; v. Wilkinson, 389; i. De Groot, 127; Codrington, 262, 268, 288 note; Ellis, Yoruba, 161.
[318.2] i. Risley, 331; ii. 71; Dalton, in vi. Trans. Ethn. Soc., N.S., 37; Featherman, Tur., 42, 89.
[318.3] Wissmann, 275.
[318.4] Julian Ralph in lxxxiv. Harper’s Mag., 177.
[319.1] iii. Internat. Arch., 70, citing Rubruk and Plan Carpin; iii. Journ. Ethn. Soc., 29; ix. Rep. Bur. Ethn., 485, citing Smyth, Aborigines of Victoria; i. Curr, 89, 272; xxiv. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 186.
[319.2] C. J. Branch, in xxvi. Contemp. Rev., 761, 762. A few references follow, but many might be added. Featherman, Nigr., 345, 358; Oceano-Mel., 65, 306, 393; Papuo-Mel., 71, 157; Chiapo-Mar., 277; i. Rep. Bur. Ethn., 108; i. Macdonald, 228; Ellis, iv. Pol. Res., 178; Codrington, 262; Speke, 500; vi. Internat. Arch., 129 note, quoting Wilson, A Missionary Voyage; vii. ibid., 228 note; i. Doolittle, 175; Dr. J. Shortt, in vii. Trans. Ethn. Soc., N.S., 244; Turner, Nineteen Years, 338, 400, 425, 463. “In the island of Soa near Skye, it was customary when the head of a family died to have a large lock of hair cut off his head and nailed fast to the door-lintel, to keep off the fairies.” Mackenzie, 131. Was this the true reason? A handful of earth from the grave is prescribed, among the Negroes of South Carolina, to prevent being haunted by the spirit. vii. Journ. Am. F.L., 318. And the same in Tashkend to assuage grief. i. Schuyler, 151.
[321.1] Deut. xiv. 1.
[321.2] Wilken, Haaropfer, 19, citing Tijdschr. v. h. Aardrijksk. Gen., and Tijdschr. v. Ind. T. L. en Vk.
[321.3] Andree, i. Ethn. Par., 148; Ellis, i. Pol. Res., 407, 410.
[322.1] Featherman, Papuo-Mel., 155, 157; i. Curr, 272; ii. 179, 203, 249, 346, 443; iii. 21, 29, 165, 549; xxiv. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 178, 181, 185, 187, 195.
[322.2] Featherman, Chiapo-Mar., 153.
[322.3] Von den Steinen, 507.
[322.4] Letourneau, L’Év. Rel., 187, citing the Dix-neuvième Siècle for 26th Dec. 1890.
[323.1] i. Rep. Bur. Ethn., 190, 124, 100, 109, 112, 143, 159, 164, 183.
[323.2] Wilken, Haaropfer, 19, citing Francis, Herinneringen uit den levensloop van een Indisch Ambtenaar.
[323.3] Featherman, Aram., 620.
[323.4] Powers, 181. The Greeks also scratched their faces until they bled, as a token of mourning. Robertson Smith, Rel. Sem., 304.
[324.1] Andree, i. Ethn. Par., 150. Other instances of similar mutilation are given by Andree.
[324.2] Tylor, ii. Prim. Cult., 364. The evolution of sacrifices from gifts upwards is treated by Dr. Tylor in the context.
[326.1] Burton, Sindh, 281.
[327.1] i. Crawfurd, 97.
[327.2] Burton, Sindh, 281; Bellew, 226.
[327.3] Dr. Daniell, in iv. Journ. Ethn. Soc., 19.
[327.4] Brinton, Lenâpe, 54, 23.
[328.1] Cyrus Thomas, Ohio Mounds, 11, 19, 22; i. Rep. Bur. Ethn., 127, 169, 170.
[328.2] Turner, Nineteen Years, 230.
[328.3] Featherman, Nigr., 694.
[328.4] Rodd, 127. Mr. Rodd goes on to notice “that MM. Pottier and Reinach in their work on The Necropolis of Myrina draw attention to the fact that in the course of their excavations they came upon a number of skeletons in which the skull was absent, while in certain cases both the skull and the feet were missing”; and they conclude that the graves in question “are those of strangers, and that the missing bones, like those of the Albanians of to-day, had been restored to the countries of their origin.” This may be so, though the absence of these bones may point to other customs, such as I have already discussed in this chapter. General Pitt-Rivers reported to the British Association at Oxford last year (1894) that he had also found bodies buried without the head at Cranborne Chase.
[329.1] Cicero, Leg. ii. 24, 60.
[329.2] i. N. Ind. N. and Q., 45, quoting ii. Calcutta Review, 419.
[330.1] Hunter, Rur. Bengal, 153, 210; and the authors cited above, [p. 318].
[330.2] i. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 131.
[330.3] Featherman, Tur., 88.
[330.4] i. Risley, 125.
[331.1] Daily News, 20th Feb. 1892.
[331.2] Burton, ii. Gelele, 78 note; Ellis, Ewe, 159; Yoruba, 163.
[331.3] ii. Internat. Arch., 181.
[332.1] i. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 183.
[332.2] i. Gray, 295.
[332.3] Rev. S. Ella, in iv. Rep. Aust. Ass., 641.