CANNIBALISM
AND HUMAN
SACRIFICES.
413
killed him, and hid the b o d y behind a c o p s e o f thick trees, near Esmeralda. This c r i m e , like many others a m o n g the Indians, would have remained u n k n o w n , if the murderer had not made preparations for a feast o n t h e following day. He tried t o induce his children, b o r n in the mission and b e c o m e Christians, t o g o with him for s o m e parts o f the dead b o d y . T h e y had m u c h difficulty in persuading him t o desist from his p u r p o s e ; and the soldier w h o was p o s t e d at Esmeralda, learned from t h e d o m e s t i c squabble caused b y this event, what the Indians w o u l d have concealed from his k n o w l e d g e . I t is k n o w n that cannibalism and t h e practice o f human sacrifices, with which it is often c o n n e c t e d , are f o u n d t o exist in all parts o f the g l o b e , and a m o n g p e o p l e o f v e r y different races ;* b u t what strikes u s m o r e in the study o f history is t o see h u m a n sacrifices retained in a state o f civilization somewhat a d v a n c e d ; and that the nations w h o hold it a p o i n t o f h o n o u r t o devour their prisoners are n o t always the rudest and m o s t ferocious. T h e painful facts have n o t escaped the observation o f those missionaries w h o are sufficiently enlightened t o reflect o n the manners o f the surrounding tribes. T h e Cabres, the G u i p u ù a v e s , and the Caribs, have always b e e n m o r e p o w e r f u l a n d m o r e civilized than the other hordes o f the O r i n o c o ; and y e t the t w o former are as m u c h addicted t o a n t h r o p o p h a g y as the latter are repugnant t o it. W e m u s t carefully distinguish the different branches i n t o which the great family o f the Caribbee nations is divided. T h e s e branches are as n u m e r o u s as those o f the M o n g o l s , and the western Tartars, o r T u r c o m a n s . T h e Caribs o f the c o n t i n e n t , those w h o inhabit the plains b e t w e e n t h e L o w e r O r i n o c o , the Rio B r a n c o , t h e E s s e q u i b o , and the sources o f the O y a p o c , hold in h o r r o r t h e practice o f devouring their enemies. This barbarous c u s t o m , †at t h e first discovery o f A m e r i c a , * Some casual instances of children carried off by the negroes in the island of Cuba have led to the belief, in the Spanish colonies, that there are tribes of cannibals in Africa. This opinion, though supported by gome travellers, is not borne out by the researches of Mr. Barrow on the interior of that country. Superstitious practices may have given rise to imputations perhaps as unjust as those of which Jewish families were the victims in the ages of intolerance and persecution. †See Geraldini Itinerarium, p. 186, and the eloquent tract of cardinal Bembo on the discoveries of Columbus. " Insularum partem homines