This is a term quaintly used by the learned M Pierre Muret to express
the devouring of the dead by birds and animals or the surviving
friends and relatives. Exposure of the dead to animals and birds has
already been mentioned, but in the absence of any positive proof it is
not believed that the North American Indians followed the custom,
although cannibalism may have prevailed to a limited extent. It is
true that a few accounts are given by authors, but these are
considered to be so apochryphal in character that for the present it
is deemed prudential to omit them. That such a means of disposing of
the dead was not in practice is somewhat remarkable when we take into
consideration how many analogies have been found in comparing old and
new world funeral observances, and the statements made by Bruhier,
Lafitau, Muret, and others, who give a number of examples of this
peculiar mode of burial.
For instance, the Tartars sometimes ate their dead, and the
Massageties, Derbices, and Effedens did the same, having previously
strangled the aged and mixed their flesh with mutton. Horace and
Tertulian both affirm that the Irish and ancient Britons devoured the
dead, and Lafitau remarks that certain Indians of South America did
the same, esteeming this mode of disposal more honorable and much to
be preferred than to rot and be eaten by worms. To the credit of our
savages, this barbarous and revolting practice is not believed to have
been practiced by them.
MOURNING, FEASTS, FOOD, DANCES, SONGS, GAMES, POSTS, FIRES, AND
SUPERSTITIONS IN CONNECTION WITH BURIAL.
The above subjects are coincidental with burial, and some of them,
particularly mourning, have been more or less treated of in this
paper, yet it may be of advantage to here give a few of the collected
examples, under separate heads.