History of Monsters 309

# USE AS FOOD

Many will undoubtedly never cease to marvel at the fact that human flesh serves as food for humans. Nevertheless, Gasparo Balbi mentions certain inhabitants of the Kingdom of Dachem, known in their native tongue as the Batak. Among these people, it is an accepted public custom that when elderly relatives are slaughtered to be devoured, neighbors are invited to a grand reception. Indeed, the King of that region grants all criminals sentenced to death to the Batak—much as the Romans once condemned those deserving of capital punishment to the beasts. Thus, approaching the prisoners in the presence of the entire court, the Batak cut off their heads and feet, slice the flesh, and eat it raw, seasoned with salt and pepper (since a great quantity of pepper is produced in the Kingdom of Dachem). The same author also mentions an island called Carnicobar, inhabited by wild men who feed on human flesh; however, it should be noted that they do not eat one another, but hunt for men from other islands to devour. Otherwise, they mostly subsist on fish.

In confirmation of these accounts, Peter Martyr relates that the Cannibals do indeed eat human flesh, but they especially prize the flesh of young boys. For this reason, they castrate the boys they capture; then, once they have been fattened up because of their castration, they cook them for a grand banquet. In this way, they follow the same ritual with captive boys that we observe with roosters, pigs, and rams, so that such animals might turn out fatter for eating. Adult men who fall into their hands, however, are killed immediately; they feast upon their intestines and extremities while still fresh, while the other limbs are preserved in salt for a time, just like so many hams of pork.

On the other hand, they do not eat the women they capture, because they consider it obscene and a sin to eat female flesh; women are kept for breeding offspring, much like hens, ewes, and heifers. Therefore, it should not seem strange if Peter Martyr reports that in the kitchens of the Cannibals, human flesh is boiled and roasted alongside the meat of parrots and geese for a display of culinary magnificence. Today, therefore, we may set aside our heavy astonishment if we learn that there have been people among us who unwittingly ate human flesh. For according to Galen, this is pleasant to the taste and is said to be similar to pork.

Let us hear Galen speaking thus: "The flesh of pigs is similar to that of humans. Many innkeepers and cooks have been caught selling human flesh as pork; yet those who had eaten it perceived no difference at all. Indeed, I myself have heard trustworthy men tell how they ate a delicate broth with the most delicious meat at a public inn. However, when they were nearly full, they found the front part of a finger—specifically the part by the nail. Stricken by this and fearing that the people running the inn might devour them too, as if they were accustomed to such things, they immediately fled the place. After vomiting up what they had eaten, they set out on their journey once more."