actually laughing: he put his finger to his
head, and then pointed towards a bush. I
approached the bush, and there discovered a
human head. My feelings of'horror may be
imagined as I recognized the features of the
unfortunate girl I had seen forced from our
village the preceding evening!
We ran towards the fire, and there stood a
man occupied in a way few would wish to
see. He was preparing the four quarters of
a human body for a feast; the large bones,
having been taken out, were thrown aside,
and the flesh being compressed, he was in
the act of forcing it into the oven. While
we stood transfixed by this terrible sight, a
large dog, which lay before the fire, rose up,
seized the bloody head, and walked off with
it into the bushes; no doubt to hide it there
for another meal 1 The man completed his
task with the most perfect composure, telling
us, at the same time, that the repast would
not be ready for some hours!
Here stood Captain Duke and myself, both
witnesses of a scene which many travellers
have related, and their relations have invariably
been treated with contempt; indeed,
the veracity of those who had the temerity to
relate such incredible events has been every
where questioned. In this instance it was no
warrior’s flesh to be eaten; there was no
enemy’s blood to drink, in order to infuriate
them. They had no revenge to gratify; no
plea could they make of their passions having
been roused by battle, nor the excuse that
they eat their enemies to perfect their triumph.
This was an action of unjustifiable
cannibalism. Atoi, the chief, who had given
orders for this cruel feast, had only the night
before sold us four pigs for a few pounds of
powdei’; so he had not even the excuse of
want of food. After Captain Duke and myself
had consulted with each other, we walked
into the village, determining to charge Atoi
with his brutality.
Atoi received us in his usual manner; and
his handsome open countenance could not be
imagined to belong to so savage a monster
as he had proved himself to be. I shuddered
at beholding the unusual quantity of potatoes
his slaves were preparing to eat with this ini
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