[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.