The question as to cannibalism it is not possible to answer with any degree of certainty. The Commission sat for over five months, had before it hundreds of witnesses, and the notes of evidence ran into thousands of pages; but the Court was a judicial tribunal, and it was anxious to bring its labours to an end as speedily as possible, so that no question was asked or allowed by the Court which was not relevant to the issue. Again and again answers given by witnesses opened up avenues which it would have been most interesting to investigate, but, unless the investigation was relevant to the case in hand or would have served to elucidate some other part of the evidence which was doubtful, the Court could not allow it to be pursued. Nor would it have been seemly for the members of the Court to make private investigation into a matter before them judicially. Consequently we could not probe down and ascertain the reason of things, but had to be content with the bare facts which came out by way of evidence. Moreover, although it was possible to have a fair idea as to whether a witness was generally speaking the truth or not, it was extremely difficult to lay one’s finger on any detail and be satisfied as to its reasonable correctness. Furthermore, whenever a witness approached cannibalism he palpably made reservations or additions, whilst at all the more interesting junctures we had to keep severely in mind that we were not holding a scientific inquiry but were a judicial tribunal having as the sole issue before us whether the deceased was murdered by the prisoners in the dock in connection with an unlawful society. Consequently, notwithstanding the time spent over the different trials, and despite the fact that whenever the subject of cannibalism came up the Court was keenly on the alert to fathom its objects, it is not possible to state definitely why the members of the Human Leopard Society ate their victims. There was, however, one outstanding fact: all the principal offenders were men of mature age, past their prime; they were the ones who, so to speak, managed the concern, who arranged for victims, and who received the most coveted portions of the slaughtered bodies; and I formed the opinion that when they devoured the human flesh the idea uppermost in their minds was that they were increasing their virile powers. There is no sentence in the notes of evidence which I can quote in support of this theory, but after an extended experience of the point of view of the West African mind, and with some acquaintance with the subject on the spot, I venture the opinion that the Human Leopards eat the flesh of their victims, not to satisfy any craving for human flesh nor in connection with any religious rite, but in the belief that their victims’ flesh will increase their virility.