Ethnography of Micronesia. 99 



in other South Sea Islands now under Japanese control have their 

 bodies tattooed so profusely as is the fashion in Yap and Sonsol. 

 However, the custoin of tattooing over a large surface of the body- 

 is found in Ongtong Java, one of the Solomon Islands, where one 

 may see big patterns of fish tattooed. i It is said that in Yap 

 the practice is allowed to free men exclusively, to slaves it is 

 prohibited. From this it will be seen that tattooing means not 

 only personal adornment, but also serves as a symbol of class 

 distinction. Besides the prohibition of tattooing, the restrictions 

 on slaves extend to other adornments of the body, as well as to 

 details of everyday life. 



Tattooing is also in vogue among women, but the regions 

 tattooed are restricted as compared with men. They are tattooed 

 mostly on the inner and outer surfaces of the lower limbs and on 

 the back of the hands from the wrist to the finger-tips. The 

 patterns favoured by v^omen in Yap are rather simple, such as a 

 shark design, the fish lying side by side, and are quite different 

 from, and by far neater, than those of the natives of the East 

 Carolines, especially of the women of Ponapé. Why is the pattern 

 of sharks favoured ? On this question Furness writes : " The Ngol 

 or representations of sharks, some say, are to protect the wearers 

 fi'om attacks from these fish while swimming in the lagoon, but 

 others maintain that these patterns are chosen solely because the 

 shark is the king of fish, and fish are such important items of the 

 food supply of the island.'"'^ If the protection of the body is the 

 object of tattooing, as represented by the former of these two 

 opinions, it may be regarded as a sort of charm. 



1 E. Parkinson, •' Zur Ethnographie der Ongtong Java inul Tasman Inseln," Intern, Archiv 

 f. Ethnog, X, 1897, Taf. IX. 



- W. H Fiirness, "The Is^xnd of Stone Money," p. 160. 



