ABSTRACT
STORY OF THE FRANCIS MARY
In 1826, the timber ship Francis Mary, with 21 people aboard, crashed en route to Liverpool. As survivors died they were eaten, and some of the living were killed and eaten. This is one of several cases of survival cannibalism to be discussed; it is a real and common phenomenon, rather than a myth as some have claimed. Survival cannibalism is a fact of human nature, and I open this chapter with this case to introduce the essence of cannibalistic events.
