the old because all who die by violence go to the happy land;
others have not such a happy future.[1012] Nansen[1013] says that
"when people get so old that they cannot take care of themselves,
especially women, they are often treated with little
consideration" by the Eskimo. Many tribes in Brazil killed the
old because they were a burden and because they could no longer
enjoy war, hunting, and feasting. The Tupis sometimes killed a
sick man and ate the corpse, if the shaman said that he could not
get well.[1014] The Tobas, a Guykuru tribe in Paraguay, bury the
old alive. The old, from pain and decrepitude, often beg for
death. Women execute the homicide.[1015] An old woman of the
Murray River people, Australia, broke her hip. She was left to
die, "as the tribe did not want to be bothered with her." The
helpless and infirm are customarily so treated.[1016] In West
Victoria the old are strangled by a relative deputed for the
purpose and the body is burned. One reason given is that, in
cases of attack by an enemy, the old would be captured and
tortured to death. The victims often beg for delay, but always in
vain.[1017] The Melanesians buried alive the sick and old. "It is
certain that, when this was done, there was generally a kindness
intended." Even when the younger hastened the end, for selfish
reasons, the sick and aged acquiesced. They often begged to be
put out of their misery.[1018] On the Easter Islands the aged
were treated with little respect. The sick were not kindly
treated, unless they were near relatives.[1019] The Solomon
Islanders are described as "a community where no respect whatever
is shown by youth to age."[1020] Holub[1021] mentions a great
cliff from which some South African tribes cast the old when
tired of caring for them. Hottentots used to put decrepit old
people on pack oxen and take them out into the desert, where they
were left in a little hut prepared for the purpose with a little
food. They now show great heartlessness towards helpless old
people.[1022] Bushmen abandon the aged with a little food and
water.[1023] In the Niger Protectorate the old and useless are
killed. The bodies are smoked and pulverized and the powder is
made into little balls with water and corn. The balls are dried
and kept to be used as food.[1024] The Somali exploit the old in
work to the last point, a