RAISED CICATRICES ON THE BODY. 18 



b}' some old man famous for his skill in performing 

 the operation. The chewed leaf of a certain plant 

 (which^ however^ I could not identify) is introduced 

 into the wound to prevent the edg'es from uniting'^ 

 and a daub of wet clay is then placed over all, and 

 kept there until the necessary eflect has been pro- 

 duced. The principal scarifications among* women 

 at Cape York and Muralug- are in the form of long* 

 lines across the hips. Among- the men, however, 

 there is considerable variet}^ 



The characteristic mode of dressing* the hair 

 among- the Torres Strait Islanders is to have it 

 twisted up into long- pipe-like ring-lets, and wig-s in 

 imitation of this are also worn. Sometimes the head 

 is shaved, leaving- a transverse crest — a practice 

 seldom seen amono^ the men but not uncommon 

 among- women and children, from Darnley Island 

 down to Cape York. At the last place and Mu- 

 ralug* the hair is almost always kept short, — still 

 caprice or fashion have their sway, for at Cape York 

 I have at times for a week tog-ether seen all the men 

 and lads with the hair twisted into little strands well 

 daubed over with red ochre and turtle fat. 



The Torres Strait Islanders are disting-uished by 

 a larg-e complicated oval scar, onty slig-htly raised, 

 and of neat construction. This, which I have been 

 told has some connection with a turtle, occupies the 

 right shoulder, and is occasionally repeated on the 

 left. At Cape York, however, the cicatrices were 

 so varied, that I could not connect any particular 



