Among the Head-Hunters of Formosa

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. TO treat her as a goddess has always been ac counted a sure way of winning a lady's favour. To the cynic, therefore, it might seem. That Mrs. Mcgovern was bound to speak well of her head hunting friends oi the Formosan hills, seeing that they welcomed her With a respect that bordered on veneration. But of other head-hunters, hailing, say, from Borneo or from Assam, anthropologists have reported no less well, and that though the investigators were accorded no divine' honours. The key to a just estimate of savage morality is knowledge of all the conditions. A custom that considered in itself is decidedly revolting may, on further acquaintance with the state of culture as a whole, turn out to be, if not praiseworthy, at least a drawback incidental to a normal phase of the ruder life of mankind.

TO treat her as a goddess has always been ac counted a sure way of winning a lady's favour. To the cynic, therefore, it might seem. That Mrs. Mcgovern was bound to speak well of her head hunting friends oi the Formosan hills, seeing that they welcomed her With a respect that bordered on veneration. But of other head-hunters, hailing, say, from Borneo or from Assam, anthropologists have reported no less well, and that though the investigators were accorded no divine' honours. The key to a just estimate of savage morality is knowledge of all the conditions. A custom that considered in itself is decidedly revolting may, on further acquaintance with the state of culture as a whole, turn out to be, if not praiseworthy, at least a drawback incidental to a normal phase of the ruder life of mankind.