cause that is our fancy.' To be devoured alive is
the punishment of four offences among themselves--adultery, robbery after
nightfall, unprovoked assault, and marrying within the clan; the last an
interesting item of which Sir John Lubbock should certainly take note for
his next edition of _The Origin of Civilisation_. The instinct of
'exogamy' has no such striking illustration elsewhere. As for foreigners
and strangers there is no rule; they are devoured at sight. And it may
well be believed that people so fond of eating one another do not demand
unquestionable evidence when a man of low station is charged with one of
the four crimes which may give them a meal. I must not repeat the horrors
which Ericsson learned. Suffice it that the victim is tied up, and those
present exercise their choice of morsels. At a former time, they say, not
long ago, the flesh was cooked--a statement which confirms the theory, so
far as it goes, of a recent introduction. At this present they dip the
slice in salt and pepper and eat it on the spot.

A good many missionaries, English, Dutch, French, and American, have not
only settled on the confines of the Batta territory, but have travelled in
the interior. The earliest of these, Messrs. Ward and Burton, found the
people kindly, which again must be noted as suggesting that they were not
so ferocious in 1820. The second party, Messrs. Lyman and Munson, of
Massachusetts, were eaten. Mdme. Pfeiffer nearly crossed the tableland
unmolested, though the savages were not friendly; but, as she says, they
regarded her as a witch. Encouraged by this example, three French priests
made an attempt two years later; they were promptly devoured. Two Dutchmen
shared their fate not long afterwards, and the Government forbade more
experiments.

I have no room for detail, but one very curious point must be indicated.
These cannibals unredeemed possess an alphabet of their own, bearing no
resemblance to the Malay, which latter is a corrupt amalgamation of
Arabian, Persian, and Tamil. The Batta characters are original. They write
commonly on strips of bamboo, scratching the letters.

On the return of the expedition, a party of invalids was despatched to the
local sanitarium on Selimbang Hill, and Ericsson obtained leave to
accompany it. There was no danger now. A few huts had been built there for
troops, and a bungalow for officers--who made him welcome, of course. They
arrived at dusk. The officers went out earl