Final answer:
Officers resorted to cannibalism due to extreme hunger in historical instances of severe food shortages, such as during the winter of 1609-1610 in Jamestown.
Step-by-step explanation:
When the officers wanted to eat the women, they resorted to cannibalism due to extreme hunger. Historical accounts reveal that during periods of extreme shortages of food, desperate individuals or groups sometimes engaged in cannibalistic practices. Notable instances include the starving colonists of Jamestown during the winter of 1609-1610, who, after consuming all available animals and leather goods, eventually began to eat the human dead. In the particularly gruesome case of Henry Collins, he killed and cannibalized his own wife. Similar desperate measures during times of scarcity are reflected in other historical contexts, such as during sieges or periods of famine.