8. No, It's Not Okay To Eat The Cabin Boy
Believe it or not, it was once uncertain whether killing then eating a cabin boy was a crime. Up until 1884 the 'Custom of the Sea' rather than the law prevailed when shipwrecked sailors turned to cannibalism. When food supplies ran out it was not unheard of for at least one person to be sacrificed for the good of the group, allegedly the decision about who to eat for dinner was made by drawing lots. So it must have just been a coincidence that the lowly cabin boy was more often than not the one served-up. There was widespread sympathy for those lost at sea and despite numerous attempts to clarify whether 'necessity' was a defence for murder, this gruesome survival technique remained unpunished until the Mignonette sunk two months into its voyage from Southampton to Sydney. It was 24 days before the lifeboat was spotted by a passing German ship but one of the four-man crew only made it to day 20. The three survivors freely admitted they had sustained themselves with the flesh and blood of 17-year-old Richard Parker. They explained that even though he hadn't volunteered to be butchered he was so weak he was probably dying anyway. Although this satisfied the public, who treated the men as returning heroes, the courts were less welcoming. The two men who'd actually slaughtered the boy were tried and found guilty of murder. Captain Thomas Dudley and seaman Edwin Stephens were shown mercy by the judge, who commuted the death sentence to six months in prison, but the law was now clear. When it comes to murder, self-defence and self preservation are not the same thing.