102 Art. VII.— A. Matsiamura; 



some 17 mm. long and has four points, of which the two in the 

 middle' are somewhat longer than the others. A handle some 10 

 cm. in length is set at right angle to the needle, through a hole 

 made in the latter. According to R. Parkinson,^ the natives of 

 Ongtong Java, one of the Solomon Islands, also obtain their needles 

 with two to four points from bones of water fowls. 



According to Captain Wilson in former times the natives of 

 Palau were also tattooed on their bodies from the middle of the thigh 

 to the ankles. 2 At present, however, this custom seems falling into 

 desuetude in the island, for in many cases the men tattoo only 

 their names in Pioman letters or flags and fish, on their forearms. 

 In Palau where women have more extensive and elaborate patterns 

 than men, the former still practise tattooing more or less profuse- 

 ly, enabling us to trace the custom in use in former times. In 

 Palau women are tattooed, though sparingly, on the four limbs, 

 during girlhood. As they grow up, however, the backs of their 

 hands and forearms are tattooed, while tattoo marks in dark dots 

 or zigzags on the inner and outer surfaces of the lower limbs 

 begin to increase. But the designs often lack in symmetry, the 

 patterns right and left not always showing agreement. A. C. 

 Haddon, while describing the tattooing among the Motu tribe of 

 British New Guinea, says in part : " The tattooer, who is a 

 woman, draws the details without previously having sketched in 

 the whole design ; this produces great variation, and often, an 

 asymmetrical design. "^ To this circumstance is due perhaps the 

 lack of symmetry above referred to. When girls grow up, they 

 have their genitals and the adjacent regions tattooed in a triangular 



1 E. Parkinson, " Zur Ethnographie der Ongtong Java nnd Tasman Inseln," Intern. Archiv 

 f. Ethnog., X, 1897, p. 140. 



2 G. Keate, " The Pelew Islands," p. 27. 



3 A. C. Haddon, " The Decorative Art of British New Guinea," p. 178. 



