On the Cannibals

'I am not sorry we note the barbarous horror of cannibalism, but grieved that, prying so narrowly into their faults, we are so blinded in ours.' First translated into English in 1603, 'On the Cannibals' is an essay reflecting on a remarkable trip to Brazil which Michel de Montaigne undertook at the end of the sixteenth century. A study into the customs and practices of indigenous peoples in the Americas, Montaigne delves into the concept of 'civilisation', contrasting the behaviour of so-ca...