The Quarterly Review, Volume 162, No. 324, April, 1886Various
History
The Quarterly Review, Volume 162, No. 324, April, 1886
Various
Periodicals
'the cannibals in the world may be numbered by millions.
Probably a third of the natives of the country where I am
now writing (New Guinea) are cannibals; so are about
two-thirds of the occupants of the New Hebrides, and the
same proportion of the Solomon Islanders. All the natives of
the Santa Cruz group, Admiralties, Hermits, Louisiade,
Engineer, D'Entrecasteaux groups are cannibals, and even
some well-authenticated cases have occurred among the "black
fellows" of Northern Australia. I do not know that the fact
of a native being a cannibal makes him a greater savage.
Some of the most treacherous savages on this coast are
undoubtedly not cannibals, while most of the Louisiade
cannibals are a mild-tempered, pleasant set of men.'
This testimony can do no harm in England, but it is to be hoped that Mr.
Romilly will not repeat it too often among his black friends, or the
moral of it might be misunderstood.
The Solomon Islands still form a part of the world of which very little
is known. They are rarely visited, and travellers who have gone for the
purpose of 'taking notes,' have either altered their minds in good
season, or never returned. Some years ago, Mr. Benjamin Boyd, a member
of the Royal Yacht Squadron went out in his yacht, the 'Wanderer,' and
was captured by the natives. Search was made for him from time to time,
and his initials were found carved on trees. A notice was placed on all
the goods sent to the natives to this effect: 'B. B., we are looking for
you'--but no tidings were ever heard of the missing man. Mr. Romilly was
told by the captain of a labour schooner that somewhere on the south
coast he had noticed a European skull in a sort of temple; he recognized
it as European from its size, and he also observed that one of the teeth
was stopped with gold. We take it for granted that the dentists among
the Solomon Islanders do not use gold for filling teeth. This, then, was
probably the skull of the hapless owner of the 'Wanderer.' The Solomon
Islanders now make a practice of killing white men, if it can be done
safely, in revenge for the way in which they have been 'kidnapped' for
the labour traffic. The diseases introduced by their treacherous white
friends have made terrible ravages among them, and their own habits tend
still further to reduce their numbers. There are several places,' says
Mr. Romilly, 'where it is the custom to kill all, or nearly all, of the
children soon after they are born.' This is the only region we ever
heard of where so frightful and unnatural a custom exists. Female
children are, or used to be, destroyed in many countries; but the
indiscriminate slaughter of all children is decidedly uncommon. These
islanders have another device which is supported by an argument not
entirely devoid of strength. 'In a battle the victorious party, if they
can surprise their enemies sufficiently to admit of a wholesale
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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