"Crusoe" & Cannibalism
Cannibalism, Brazil. Engraving by Theodor de Bry, 1562 (Image from Wikimedia Commons) Crusoe took a large part of his second year to explore the other side of the island. From the abundance of wild life (turtles, fowls of many kinds, including penguins) he concludes that he has taken up his lot "on the worst side of the island." On his way to the other side, past "the vale where his bower stood," Crusoe could view the sea to the west and see land--"whether an island or a continent I could not tell." Further he posits that this land "must be near the Spanish dominions, and perhaps was all inhabited by savages." Lastly, he concludes that the inhabitants of this land could very well be the worst kind of savages: Besides, after some thought upon this affair, I considered that if this land was the Spanish coast, I should certainly, one time or other, see some vessel pass or repass one way or other; but if not, then it was the savage coast betw...