hey
could not have failed to notice the curious designs that were traced
upon his face. These scroll-like marks were the result of an operation
which lasted for six weeks, and which was attended with extreme pain.
The process is called tattooing, and a person who has undergone it is
said to be tattooed. It is practised very extensively amongst the
natives of New Zealand and the South Sea Islands generally, women as
well as men, whose bodies are covered with patterns of an elaborate, or
fantastic, or picturesque description, though sometimes the design is of
a comparatively simple sort. Nearly every British sailor has
tattoo-marks on his arm--an anchor, ship, initials, or what not--and
unless I am much mistaken, some of the lads now perusing these sentences
have now and then ornamented (or disfigured) their hands and arms with
similar signs.

In New Zealand the tattoo-marks run in unbroken lines, while in the
South Sea Islands they are in dotted lines. The pain of the process in
both cases is most acute, especially in the former. In New Zealand the
figures are formed by driving little chisels, which have been dipped in
some colouring-matter, through the skin. In the South Sea Islands a
series of punctures are made with a fish-bone, which is, however,
sometimes used as a needle. Every variety of design is employed--trees,
flowers, animals, weapons, and so forth. It is considered a disgrace for
the person being tattooed to give way to any sign of suffering, but as
the pain is so exquisite, cries of torture occasionally rise to the
lips. In order, therefore, to drown such cries, and so preserve the
patient's reputation for bravery, it is usual for a number of his female
friends to sing songs throughout the operation. Some tattooers acquire
great skill in their art, and will form a design which shall be
beautiful, elaborate, or otherwise, according to the fee. But in any
case it is well to deal liberally with the artist, lest he should allow
the chisel to slip "accidentally on purpose," and produce a permanent
disfigurement instead of a fine design. The colouring-matter in which
the tool is dipped is a thick mixture, prepared by rubbing down charcoal
in oil or water. The pattern appears black on a brown skin, and dark
blue on the skin of a white man, and is of course indelible.

Since the process is so painful, why do the Maoris and others submit
themselves to it? They look upon the tattooing as a kind of personal
adornmen