| 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. | | | | [40] 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. | | | | [41] 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 |