It happened years ago in Victoria that a white policeman was attacked by the blacks. They struck him with their clubs until they believed him dead, and then they took out his kidneys and ran away. The man came to his senses again for a moment and was able to relate what had happened, but a few hours afterwards he died. The natives on Herbert river are particularly fond of the fat of a dead foe, which is not only eaten as a delicacy and as a strengthening food, but is also carried as an amulet. A small piece is done up in grass and kept in a basket worn round the neck, and the effect of this is, in their opinion, success in the chase, so that they can easily approach the game. A man told me that immediately after beginning to wear a small piece of human fat, he waded across the river, and came at once to a tree where he found a large edible snake.
As a rule the Australian natives do not eat persons belonging to their own tribe. Still, I know instances to the contrary, and I have even heard of examples of mothers eating their own children. Besides the circumstance already related, it happened in 1883, about a hundred miles from Townsville, that a child which had died a natural death was eaten, and that the mother herself took part in the feast. A day or two later she too died and was eaten. In connection with this I must call attention to the fact that the killing of children rarely happens on Herbert river, for the mothers are invariably fond of their children. I know of examples of their killing their children because they were a burden to them, but such things also happen in civilised countries. Moreover, the father is the one who determines whether the child is to live or not, so that when the mother kills the child she usually obeys the orders of her husband.
Mr. White has informed me that the natives south of the Carpentarian Gulf also are cannibals to some extent. They never kill anybody for the purpose of eating him, but the women eat those who die a natural death; near Moreton Bay the dead are also eaten, and by their own relatives.
In Western Queensland, at Westlands station on Thompson river, a woman belonging to a tribe of civilised blacks gave birth to a so-called half-caste child—that is, the offspring of a black mother and a white father. Such half-breeds are not as a rule much liked, and are therefore usually killed by the blacks who are in the first stages of civilisation. In this instance the blacks had indeed been in long intercourse with white people, and still the child was killed. It was permitted to live about three weeks, but one day one of the men put his hand round its neck and held it up till it was choked to death. Thereupon it was roasted on the fire and distributed among those present, and eaten most greedily. Many of the white people at the station were witnesses of this event. It is not known whether the mother in this instance ate any of the flesh of her child or not.
The blacks do not like to eat white people. When Jimmy had killed the white man near my headquarters, my question as to whether the dead man had been eaten caused great surprise. The answer was: Kólle mah! komorbory kawan!—that is, By no means! terrible nausea! At the same time the person pointed at his throat to indicate his disgust for the flesh of a white man. The other persons present agreed with him. I have often since heard them say that the white man’s flesh is not good; this may be owing to his constant diet of salt beef, tea, and bread, which possibly gives his flesh a different taste from that of the blacks. The black man lives on vegetables nearly all his life. I have heard it stated by “civilised” blacks that the white man’s flesh has a salt taste, which the natives do not like.
This also seems to harmonise with their fondness for the flesh of the Chinese, whose food consists largely of rice and other vegetables. Farther north in Queensland it twice happened during my sojourn in Australia that the blacks killed the Chinese in great numbers. It was said that ten Chinamen were eaten at one dinner. All strangers who travel through the land of a tribe are of course their enemies. This is true both of the Chinese and the white men, both of which races are looked upon as another kind of black who come from distant lands, and are killed when the opportunity presents itself.
Human flesh, however, is not the daily food of the Australian. On the contrary, he seldom gets a mouthful of this delicacy. During all the time I spent on Herbert river only two blacks were killed and eaten. One of them was a young man who had ventured to go into the territory of a strange tribe, where he was surprised and killed. The other was an old man who was not able to run fast enough when his tribe was attacked, and he was stoned to death. His flesh was brought in baskets to Herbert Vale.
It is a mistake to suppose that the cannibals have an uglier look than other savages. Those who go in search of human flesh are certainly the boldest and the most cunning, but a cannibal may look very quiet and approachable. Both men and women take part in the feast of human flesh.
Doubtless cannibals can be found even at the present time in other lands than Australia. There are said to be cannibals in the interior of Africa and in Borneo, but I doubt whether it is generally known that there is a peculiar kind of cannibalism in certain hill districts of Burma, in regard to which I have recently obtained interesting and reliable information from the distinguished Burmese barrister Mr. Chan-Toon, and I take this opportunity of relating some of the facts gathered from him. He says that in the north-east part of Burma there are mountain tribes who live a savage life resembling that of the Australian blacks, and who eat the congealed blood of their enemies. The blood is poured into bamboo reeds, corked up, and in course of time hardens. The filled reeds are hung under the roofs of the huts, and when the chief of the tribe wants to treat his friends to this kind of food the reed is broken and the contents devoured with the greatest relish. The origin of this custom is, according to Mr. Chan-Toon, a superstition that the natives will thereby acquire the courage and strength of their enemies. He thinks that at first the blood of captives must have been drunk as soon as they were slain.