204 ^^- VIL— A. Matsmnura: 



puberty, had no such tattooings. This may imply that the old 

 custom is disappearing ; but considering the presence of girls about 

 the age of eighteen or so, who are tattooed on their genitals, it 

 may be supposed that the operation takes place, as a rule, long 

 after the first appearance of menstruation. 



We are told, as mentioned elsewhere, that the tattooing around 

 the genitals is also practised among the native women of Truk, 

 though I had no opportunity to ascertain the fact. However, a 

 picture of the female organ drawn for the wi'iter by a native of 

 Toloas, an islet belonging to Truk, had a triangle drawn around 

 the genitals and the space enclosed by the triangle was painted 

 black, suggesting tattooings there among the women of Palau. This 

 custom prevails in Ponapé also. According to Otto Finsch,i who 

 gives a detailed description of it, the patterns employed among 

 the natives of Ponapé consist of parallel lines and are far more 

 complicated than those found in Palau. The patterns encircle the 

 body like a girdle, a pentagon tattooed on the abdomen, the 

 genitals included, forming its centre. 



According to J. S. Kubary, a similar practice is in evidence 

 among the women of Sonsol, one of the West Caroline Islands, 

 who tattoo a thick line above the mens veneris.^ This fact is 

 also mentioned by the same author, who further says that the 

 women of Nukuoro, an island to the south-west of Ponapé, have 

 a triangle and parallel lines tattooed on the mens veneris.^ 



Beyond the Caroline groups, a similar custom may be noticed 

 among the natives of British New Guinea. It is found, according 



1 O. Finsch, " Ueber die Bewohner von Ponapé," Zeitschr. für Ethn., Xlf, 1880, pp. 311, 

 312 ; Figs. 7 and 8. 



2 J. s Kubary, " Ethnographische Beiträge ziir Kenntnis des Karolinen Archipels," p. 90 ; 

 Taf. XI. 



3 J. S. KiTbary, quoted by H. Ploss and Max Bartels, " Das Weib in der Natur- und Völker- 

 kunde," Leipzig, 1913, Bd. I, p. 307. 



