The ancient cities of the New World : being travels and explorations in Mexico and Central America from 1857-1882 . doubtful if it ever existedas an institution amono- other civilised nations. Men, howevercruel, do not feed on one another, unless obliged by an absolutenecessity; and cannibalism, which no doubt existed with all primitivepopulations, only continued among those who were deprived ofsufficient space where they could hunt and feed their flocks, andwho were reduced to a scanty supply of roots and herbs for theirsubsistence. This was observed among the Caraibs at the time ofthe Conque
The ancient cities of the New World : being travels and explorations in Mexico and Central America from 1857-1882 . doubtful if it ever existedas an institution amono- other civilised nations. Men, howevercruel, do not feed on one another, unless obliged by an absolutenecessity; and cannibalism, which no doubt existed with all primitivepopulations, only continued among those who were deprived ofsufficient space where they could hunt and feed their flocks, andwho were reduced to a scanty supply of roots and herbs for theirsubsistence. This was observed among the Caraibs at the time ofthe Conquest; in the islands of the Pacific, in Australia, where thesoil is so poor, that although cannibalism prevails, the increase ofpopulation has to be kept down, and the recent introduction ofpigs in the islands has diminished but not eradicated this ancientpractice, which has never flourished with races provided withbears, reindeer, horses, and herds. This usage, which at first was * Orozco y Berra, Historia Antigua, vol. 11. chap. ix. p. 96. He quotesJoseph de Maistre. F 2 68 The Ancient Cities of the New a necessity, became a sacred tradition with the Aztecs, with whomreligion was all-powerful ; it directed the State, presided over theminutest details of domestic life, and as the influence of the priestswas unbounded, peasants and princes had to bow their necks totheir tyranny. They cannot be called cannibals, however, in thecoarsest sense of the word, for they did not feed on human fleshto gratify their appetite, but as a duty, and in obedience to theirreligion ; and during the long and terrible siege of Mexico nota single case of cannibalism is recorded against them by ancient authorities. Whence did they derive thisreligious practice ? Not from the nationsof the ancient continent with whom theyhave so much in common, for at that timecannibalism was no longer practised amongthe nomadic tribes of Eastern Asia ; norfrom Japan or China, where the peoplehad always lived on
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