Indians, without the least hesitation, answered, the bones of a man.
They were then asked what was become of the flesh, and they replied
that they had eaten it; 'but,' said Tupia, 'why did you not eat the body
of the woman we saw floating upon the water?' 'The woman,' said they,
'died of disease; besides, she was our relation, and we eat only the
bodies of our enemies, who are killed in battle.'

"Upon inquiry who the man was whose bones we had found, they told us
that, about five days before, a boat belonging to their enemies came
into the bay, with many persons on board, and that this man was one of
seven whom they had killed.

"Though stronger evidence of this horrid practice prevailing among the
inhabitants of this coast will scarcely be required, we have still
stronger to give. One of us asked if they had any human bones with the
flesh remaining upon them; and upon their answering us that all had been
eaten, we affected to disbelieve that the bones were human, and said
that they were the bones of a dog; upon which one of the Indians, with
some eagerness, took hold of his own forearm, and thrusting it towards
us, said that the bone which Mr. Banks held in his hand had belonged to
that part of a human body; at the same time, to convince us that the
flesh had been eaten, he took hold of his own arm with his teeth, and
made a show of eating. He also bit and gnawed the bone which Mr. Banks
had taken, drawing it through his mouth, and showing by signs that it
had afforded a delicious repast. Some others of them, in a conversation
with Tupia next day, confirmed all this in the fullest manner; and they
were afterwards in the habit of bringing human bones, the flesh of which
they had eaten, and offering them to the English for sale."

When Cook was at the same place in November, 1773, in the course of his