Judge — November 17, 1888 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page satirizes Victorian-era missionary and colonial efforts in the South Pacific. The illustration shows a domestic kitchen scene with a woman using what appears to be a commercial product (likely a cleaning or cooking extract, given the text mentions "Extract"). The article describes how a New Bedford whaler, stranded on islands in the South Pacific inhabited by cannibals, accidentally introduced a commercial product to the natives. The satire's point: a simple consumer product—not religious conversion or "civilizing" efforts—accidentally achieved what missionaries couldn't, reducing the islanders' cannibalism. The joke mocks both the ineffectiveness of missionary work and the era's racial stereotypes about "savages." By suggesting a humble commercial product works better than intentional civilization efforts, Judge ridicules the self-importance of colonial and religious enterprises. The woman in the kitchen represents how even ordinary domestic commerce has more "civilizing" power than deliberate interventions.