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Here Montaigne reaches peak “noble savage.”

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This is one of the most famous passages of the essay, where Montaigne contends that the atrocities of the French wars of religion – which were rumored to include cannibalism – are more barbarous than the ritual cannibalism practiced by the Tupi.

One of the most notorious examples of this barbarism was the Siege of Sancerre, when starving Protestants held out against Catholic forces by, according to Jean de Léry, eating each other.

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“Running away” seems to belong to the list of other things the Tupi don’t have words for.

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Like “awesome,” “wonderful” in seventeenth-century didn’t necessarily have a positive connotation; it just meant “astonishing,” and could describe something astonishingly bad or astonishingly good.

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As far as the Greeks were concerned, Scythians were barbarians. Scythia was the equivalent for them of “Siberia,” a wasteland to which you would condemn your worst enemies.

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It’s unclear how Montaigne would have tasted this bread; it seems unlikely that his servant had somehow saved a piece from his trip to Brazil years ago. It’s possible he’s just guessing, or, as suggested above, deliberately confusing this coriander-like cake with a common communion wafer.

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The fact that this drink has a laxative effect to those not used to it, but is pleasing to those who are, is another indication that cultural standards aren’t objective; we just like what we’re used to.

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Another attempt to suggest that the customs of the Tupi are not so strange.

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The manna that fell to the Israelites from heaven in Numbers 11 was said to look like coriander seed, and to taste like cakes made with olive oil.

Paired with the claret-like drink Montaigne has just described, this sweet and bland bread sounds a little like the Christian Eucharist.

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Montaigne compares the Tupis' accommodations to something his readers might be more familiar with. The Tupinamba: they’re just like us!

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