1769. ROUND THE WORLD. 189 



smell is at first very disagreeable to a European ; and 

 as they live in a hot country, and have no such thing 

 as a comb, they are not able to keep their heads free 

 from lice, which the children and common people 

 sometimes pick out and eat ; a hateful custom, 

 wholly different from their manners in every other 

 particular ; for they are delicate and cleanly almost 

 without example ; and those to whom we distributed 

 combs soon delivered themselves from vermin, with 

 a diligence which showed that they were not more 

 odious to us than to them. 



They have a custom of staining their bodies, near- 

 ly in the same manner as is practised in many other 

 parts of the world, which they call Tattowing, They 

 prick the skin, so as just not to fetch blood, with a 

 small instrument, something in the form of a hoe ; 

 that part which answers to the blade is made of a 

 bone or shell, scraped very thin, and is from a quar- 

 ter of an inch to an inch and a half wide ; the edge 

 is cut into sharp teeth or points, from the number of 

 three to twenty, according to its size : when this is 

 to be used, they dip the teeth into a mixture of a 

 kind of lamp-black, formed of the smoke that rises 

 from an oily nut which they burn instead of candles, 

 and water ; the teeth, thus prepared, are placed up- 

 on the skin, and the handle to which they are fasten- 

 ed being struck, by quick smart blows, with a stick 

 fitted to the purpose, they pierce it, and at the same 

 time carry into the puncture the black composition, 

 which leaves an indelible stain. The operation is 

 painful, and it is some days before the wounds are 

 healed. It is performed upon the youth of both 

 sexes when they are about twelve or fourteen years 

 of age, on several parts of the body, and in various 

 figures, according to the fancy of the parent, or 

 perhaps the rank of the party. The women are 

 generally marked with this stain, in the form of a Z, 

 on every joint of their fingers and toes, and fre- 

 quently round the outside of their feet : the men are 



