Moreover, although it was possible to have a fair idea as to whether a witness was generally speaking the truth or not, it was extremely difficult to lay one’s finger on any detail and be satisfied as to its reasonable correctness. Furthermore, whenever a witness approached cannibalism he palpably made reservations or additions, whilst at all the more interesting junctures we had to keep severely in mind that we were not holding a scientific inquiry but were a judicial tribunal having as the sole issue before us whether the deceased was murdered by the prisoners in the dock in connection with an unlawful society. Consequently, notwithstanding the time spent over the different trials, and despite the fact that whenever the subject of cannibalism came up the Court was keenly on the alert to fathom its objects, it is not possible to state definitely why the members of the Human Leopard Society ate their victims. There was, however, one outstanding fact: all the principal offenders were men of mature age, past their prime; they were the ones who, so to speak, managed the concern, who arranged for victims, and who received the most coveted portions of the slaughtered bodies; and I formed the opinion that when they devoured the human flesh the idea uppermost in their minds was that they were increasing their virile powers.
There is no sentence in the notes of evidence which I can quote in support of this theory, but after an extended experience of the point of view of the West African mind, and with some acquaintance with the subject on the spot, I venture the opinion that the Human Leopards eat the flesh of their victims, not to satisfy any craving for human flesh nor in connection with any religious rite, but in the belief that their victims’ flesh will increase their virility.
Whether that was the original idea when the first person fell a victim to the Human Leopards may be questioned. Cannibalism is probably only a bye-product in these murders. Originally it may have been to bind the murderers together and so preserve inviolable secrecy that each member of the Society partook of a portion of the flesh; or it may have been to continue the leopard-acting, i.e. by devouring the prey; or it may have been with a combination of these ideas that cannibalism originated. Gradually, however, the notion arose that human flesh had specific virtues; as the Borfima’s energy was replenished with human fat so would the cannibal be reinvigorated with other parts of the human body; and possibly during the last few decades the value placed upon human flesh was equal to or even exceeded that set upon human fat. Such an explanation would help to account for the expansion and increased activity of the Society during the past twenty years.