salt), which is always in readiness. Rajah Bandaharra, a Batta,
and one of the chiefs of Tappanooly, asserted that he was present
at a festival of this kind about eight years ago, at the village
of Subluan, on the other side of the bay, not nine miles distant,
where the heads may still be seen.

When the party is a prisoner taken in war, he is eaten
immediately, and on the spot. Whether dead or alive he is equally
eaten, and it is usual even to drag the bodies from the graves,
and, after disinterring them, to eat the flesh. This only in
cases of war. From the clear and concurring testimony of all
parties, it is certain that it is the practice not to kill the
victim till the whole of the flesh cut off by the party is eaten,
should he live so long; the chief or party injured then comes
forward and cuts off the head, which he carries home as a trophy.
Within the last three years there have been two instances of this
kind of punishment within ten miles of Tappanooly, and the heads
are still preserved. In cases of adultery the injured party
usually takes the ear or ears; but the ceremony is not allowed to
take place except the wife's relations are present and partake of
it. In these and other cases where the criminal is directed to be
eaten, he is secured and kept for two or three days, till every
person (that is to say males) is assembled. He is then eaten
quietly, and in cold blood, with as much ceremony, and perhaps
more, than attends the execution of a capital sentence in Europe.

The bones are scattered abroad after the flesh has been eaten,
and the head alone preserved. The brains belong to the chief, or
injured party, who usually preserves them in a bottle, for
purposes of witchcraft, &c. They do not eat the bowels, but like
the heart; and many drink the blood from bamboos. The palms of
the hands and the soles of the feet are the delicacies of
epicures. Horrid and diabolical as these practices may appear, it
is no less true that they are the result of much deliberation
among the parties, and seldom, except in the case of prisoners in
war, the effect of immediate and private revenge. In all cases of
crimes, the party has a regular trial, and no punishment can be
inflicted until sentence is regularly and formally passed in the
public fair. H