The first case is mentioned in a report made to his superiors, by the French missionary, Father Roubaud, who accompanied the Indian allies of the French troops during the operations against the British forces in 1757.
An English captive, who was believed to have been an officer, was cooked and eaten by the Ottawas under circumstances singularly repulsive. The Father Roubaud, who was present and witnessed part of the proceedings, was horrified by what he saw, and finding that he could do nothing to check the tribe in their savage feast was forced to withdraw to his tent.
The other instance occurred after the capture of the garrison of Michel Mackinac by the Chippewas. Mr. Alexander Henry, the same person who, at another time, undertook the mining operations on the shores of Lake Superior which are mentioned in a preceding chapter, was a captive. He states that one of the white prisoners was killed and divided into five parts which were cooked in five kettles and then eaten at a special feast.
Mr. Henry was of opinion, from what he observed, that this food was taken with repugnance. An Indian told him that what he saw was done to inspire the warriors with courage.
When I was at the village of San Domingo del Palenque in Central America, Dr. Coller, a resident there, told me he had carried out, during several years, a series of investigations to ascertain the reasons for the existence of large green savannahs in the heart of the adjacent forests. He had formed the conclusion that those open spaces were caused by the exceptional character of the ground which, he said, differed from that upon which the trees grew. The similar openings amongst the forests in Ceylon called patenas, are, I believe, also supposed to be the effect of the nature or poverty of the land.
It is noticeable that the forests usually skirt or surround savannahs in sharp well-defined outlines like an enclosing barrier, in the same manner as the meadows, formed by the consequences of the action of beavers, occur in Michigan.
After my return to England I happened to discuss this subject with Colonel Yule, who had just then completed his work of editing the Travels of Marco Polo. He told me that when he was in Burmah, Lord Dalhousie, who was at that time Governor-General of India, sent him into the interior to visit the forests of Aracan.
He found within them several large clearings, and observed that the new growths were of a different character from the old trees and were invariably bamboos. He also saw amongst the mountains many deciduous trees which were quite bare of leaves whilst their branches were covered with brilliantly coloured flowers.