  We show that it appears possible for starburst galaxies, like the nearby NGC
253, recently identified as a TeV source by the CANGAROO collaboration, to emit
a significant amount of high-energy gamma-rays and neutrinos through hadronic
processes in their cores. We suggest that proton illumination of the inner
winds of massive stars can be a viable mechanism for producing TeV gamma-rays
and neutrinos without a strong MeV-GeV counterpart. The rich stellar content of
the starbursts, with millions of early-type stars concentrated in the central
regions, where collective effects of the stellar winds and supernovae can
produce a significant enhancement of the cosmic ray density, provides an
adequate scenario for TeV $\gamma$-ray generation. Close starbursts are also
found to be potential sources for km-scale neutrino telescopes, like ICECUBE,
within reasonable integration times.
