Caunibalism in New Zealand.

Feilding Star, Volume XV, Issue 318, 19 May 1894, Page 4

Caunibalism in New Zealand.

The declaration of one of the chiefs J •t Faeroa as to the methods of settl_ng tribal disputes by war and cannibalism prior to the introduction of Christianity, calls to mind those picturesque old times when the face of the white man was first seen in the land. Few indeed of rhe fine old cannibals survive, but a unique specimen still remains above ground in the neighbourhood of Rotorua There is in existence a " sincere •nd solemn" declaration of this old gentleman, signed and duly witnessed before a Justice of the Peece, in which he states : — " I have frequently eaten human flesh. It was the custom to do so up to the time the Gospel was first preached in New Zealand, and for some time after. Wolaen were not allowed to partake, nor were children, but all males ate of it. Persons killed in battle were eaten. Ify father killed such. The last time we ate of the dead was a; Waitotara, on the West Coast. We went to avenge a defeat* The enemy had, however, fled, but we captured a man and a woman, whom we killed and ate We also dug up two men, who had for some time been buried, but were not much decomposed, a.no ate them. The flesh was cut up in pieces and served round in baskets, with potatoes and kumeras. There was no ceremony performed over it, to distinguieh it from other meat." The above is a specimen of the life of the noble savage belore he degenerated, as it is sometimes said, by contact with the European.