reflect upon what we thus made known to them in the name of God, they
laughed at us. They observed, that they could not believe that the
sufferings of one man could atone for the sins of another; and that
therefore, if they were wicked, what we told them of a crucified
Saviour would not help them: but they insisted, that they were good by
nature, and never did any thing wrong, as we well knew. When we
replied, that we knew, that they had but lately murdered some people,
and afterwards abused the dead bodies, each thrusting his spear into
them, mutilating them in the most wanton manner, and at last cutting
them to pieces, and asked them, whether this was a proof of their
natural goodness, their answer was: "That you do not understand, those
were people not fit to live, they were _Gomoy_, cannibals!"

LETTER VI.

The inhabitants of the Nicobar islands believe, that all dangerous
diseases proceed from the devil, who is nevertheless under the controul
of their sorcerers, or _Paters_[7]. If, therefore, these men cannot
cure a disorder by their tricks and inchantments, by which they pretend
to catch the devil and drive him off the place, then they are sure,
that he has entered into some man or woman, sitting in his or her
house, and by witchcraft, sucking all the power of healing out of the
patient's body. The sorcerer then proceeds to discover the witch, and
finds no difficulty in fixing upon some one he hates. The word of such
a wise man is, of course, taken by all for the voice of truth, and the
poor person accused is murdered without further inquiry. Murders of
this kind occurred but seldom in our neighbourhood, but were said to be
more frequent in some of the other islands. We told them, that the
devil everywhere proved himself the father of lies, and a murderer from
the beginning; and, till they turned to the true God, they were Satan's
slaves, and his works they must do. They seem indeed to be continually
engaged with him, whenever they profess to perform any religious rite.
They even ascribe the creation of the world to the _Eewee_, or wicked
agent. If they do any thing wrong, or commit any atrocious crime, and
are reproved for it, they immediately answer: "It was not me, it was
the devil that did it." If you convince them, that they did it
themselves, and with their own hands, their usual phrase is, "The
_Eewee_ did not make me perfect, or better;" and therefore they cannot
help some times doing what is wro