[43] Rink, Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, p. 45.
[44] Lumholtz, op. cit. p. 272.
[45] Dieffenbach, op. cit. ii. 128 sq.
[46] Best, in Jour. Polynesian Soc. xii. 83, 147.
Moreover, by eating the supposed seat of a certain quality in his enemy the cannibal thinks not only that he deprives his victim of that quality, but also that he incorporates it with his own system.[47] In many cases this is the chief or the only reason for the practice of cannibalism. The Shoshone Indians supposed that they became animated by the heroic spirit of a fallen foe if they partook of his flesh.[48] Among the Hurons, if an enemy had shown courage, his heart, roasted and cut into small pieces, was given to the young men and boys to eat.[49] The Ew̔e-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast used to eat the hearts of foes remarkable for sagacity, holding that the heart is the seat of the intellect as well as of courage.[50] Among the Kimbunda of South-Western Africa, when a new king succeeds to the throne, a brave prisoner of war is killed in order that the king and nobles may eat his flesh, and so acquire his strength and courage.[51] The idea of transference very largely underlies Australian cannibalism.[52] In some tribes enemies are consumed with a view to acquiring some part of their qualities and courage.[53] The Dieyerie devour the fatty portions of their foes because they think it will impart strength to them.[54] And similar motives are often given for the practice of eating relatives or friends. When a man is killed in one of the ceremonial fights in the tribes about Maryborough, in Queensland, his friends skin and eat him in the hope that his virtues as a warrior may go into those who partake of him.[55] Among the natives of the River Darling, in New South Wales, a piece of flesh is cut from the dead body and taken to the camp, and after being sun-dried is cut up into small pieces, which are distributed among the relatives and friends of the deceased. Some of them use the piece in making a charm, or throw it into the river to bring a flood and fish, but others suck it to get strength and courage.[56] In certain Central Australian tribes, when a party starts on an avenging expedition, every man of it drinks some blood and also has some spurted over his body, so as to make him lithe and active; the elder men indicate from whom the blood is to be drawn, and the persons thus selected must not decline.[57] In certain South Australian tribes cannibalism is only practised by old men and women, who eat a baby in order to get the youngster’s strength.[58] Among other natives of the same continent, as we have noticed above, a mother used to kill and eat her first child, as this was believed to strengthen her for later births.[59] And in various Australian tribes it is, or has been, the custom when a child is weak or sickly to kill its infant brother or sister and feed it with the flesh to make it strong.[60] Many of the Brazilian Indians are in the habit of burning the bones of their departed relatives, and mix the ashes with a drink of which they partake for the purpose of absorbing their spirits or virtues.[61] Dr. Couto de Magalhães was informed that the savage Chavantes “eat their children who die, in the hope of gathering again to their body the soul of the child.”[62]
[47] Blumentritt, ‘Der Ahnencultus der Malaien des Philippinen-Archipels,’ in Mittheil. d. kais. u. könig. Geograph. Gesellsch. in Wien, xxv. 154 (Italones). Lewin, Wild Races of South-Eastern India, p. 269 (Kukis). de Groot, op. cit. (vol. iv. book) ii. 373 sqq. (ancient Chinese). Schneider, Die Religion der afrikanischen Naturvölker, p. 209 sq. (Negroes). Dorman, op. cit. p. 145 sq. (North American Indians). Keating, op. cit. i. 104 (Potawatomis). Koch, loc. cit. pp. 87, 89 sqq., 109 (South American Indians). Andree, op. cit. p. 101 sq. and passim. Lippert, Der Seelencult, p. 70 sqq. Idem, Kulturgeschichte, ii. 282. Trumbull, Blood Covenant, p. 128 sqq. Frazer, Golden Bough, ii. 357 sqq. Gomme, Ethnology in Folklore, p. 151 sqq. Crawley, Mystic Rose, p. 101 sqq.
[48] Featherman, op. cit. ‘Aoneo-Maranonians,’ p. 206.
[49] Parkman, Jesuits in North America, p. xxxix.
[50] Ellis, Ew̔e-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast, p. 100.
[51] Magyar, Reisen in Süd-Afrika, p. 273.