It is a kind of knighthood to
which they are only entitled by great actions." Blue marks tattooed
upon the chin of a Mojave woman indicate that she is married. The
Serrano Indians near Los Angeles had, as late as 1843, a custom of
having special tattoo marks on themselves which were also made on
trees to indicate the corner boundaries of patches of land. (Mallery,
1882-83, 64, 182.) In his book on the California Indians, Powers
declares (109) that in the Mattoal tribe the men tattoo themselves; in
the others the women alone tattoo. The theory that the women are thus
marked in order that the men may be able to recognize them and redeem
them from captivity seems plausible for the reasons that these Indians
are rent into a great number of divisions and that "the squaws almost
never attempt any ornamental tattooing, but adhere closely to the
plain regulation mark of the tribe." The Hupa Indians have discovered
another practical use for body-marks. Nearly every man has ten lines
tattooed across the inside of his left arm, and these lines serve as a
measurement of shell-money.

The same non-esthetic motives for tattooing prevail in South and
Central America. In Agassiz's book on Brazil we read (318) concerning
the Mundurucu Indians:

"Major Coutinho tells us that the tattooing _has nothing to
do with individual taste_, but that the pattern is appointed
for both sexes, and is _invariable throughout the tribe_. It
is connected with their caste, the limits of which are very
precise, and with their religion."

The tattooing "is also an indication of aristocracy; a man who
neglected this distinction would not be respected in his tribe."
Concerning the Indians of Guiana we read in Im Thurn (195-96) that
they have small distinctive tribal marks tattooed at the corners of
the mouth or on the arms. Nearly all have "indelibly excised lines"
which are

"scars originally made for _surgical_, not ornamental
purposes." "Some women specially affect certain little
figures, like Chinese characters, which looks as if some
meaning were attached to them, but which the Indians are
either unable or unwilling to explain."

In Nicaragua, as Squire informs us (III., 341), the natives tattooed
themselves to designate by special marks the tribes to which they
belonged; and as regards Yucatan, Landa writes (Sec. XXI.) that as
tattooing was accompanied by much pain, they thought themselves the
mor