Note 278 — Chapter VIII

The American word "cannibal," of a somewhat doubtful signification, is probably derived from the language of Hayti or that of Porto Rico. It has passed into the languages of Europe, since the end of the fifteenth century, as synonymous with that of Anthropophagi, "Edaces humanarum carnium novi heluones Anthropophagi, Caribes, alias Canibales appellati," says Peter Martyr of Anghiera, in the third decade of his Oceanics, dedicated to Pope Leo X. "We were assured by all the missionaries whom we had an opportunity of consulting, that the Caribbees are perhaps the least anthropophagous nation of the New Continent. We may conceive that the fury and despair with which the unhappy Caribbees defended themselves against the Spaniards when, in 1704, a royal decree declared them slaves, may have contributed to the reputation they have acquired of ferocity. The licendiado Rodrigo de Figuera was appointed by the court in 1520 to decide which of the tribes of South America might be regarded as of Caribbee race, or as Cannibals, and which were Guatiaos, that is, Indians of peace, and friends of the Castilians. Every nation that could be accused of having devoured a prisoner after a battle was arbitrarily declared of Caribbee race. All the tribes designated by Figuera as Caribbees wore condemned to slavery, and might at will be sold or exterminated in war."—Humboldt's Personal Narrative, vol. vi., p. 35.

Charlevoix and Lafitau speak of the cannibalism of the North American Indians as a generally acknowledged fact: Lafitau mentions the Abenaquis as the only tribe who held it in detestation.—Lafitau, vol. ii., p. 307.