A FRAGMENT OF HISTORY 165 



they bear it without a murmur. A single needle- 

 prick makes us recoil ; those rude savages remain un- 

 moved while the tattoo artist punctures their bodies 

 with his awl." 



"Why do they submit to such a torture ?" 



"Chiefly that they may cut a more dashing figure, 

 present a more formidable aspect, before the enemy. 

 In certain archipelagoes of Polynesia we should find 

 still stranger customs. One tribe, for example, 

 gashes the face by removing narrow strips of skin 

 so that the cicatrized wounds form various patterns 

 in hideous little red weals. Others pass a small 

 pointed stick through the cartilage of the nostrils; 

 others make a large hole in the lower lip and set a 

 shell in it. 



"Had the ancient Gaels similar customs? It is 

 quite possible; at least it is certain that they tat- 

 tooed themselves with woad. Certain customs are 

 sometimes so tenacious that after many centuries in 

 the midst of the most flourishing civilization tattoo- 

 ing has not entirely disappeared even with us. On 

 the strong arms of some of our laborers are seen, 

 any day, tattooed in blue, trade emblems and other 

 devices. They are, without doubt, the survivals of 

 primitive customs. 



"The Gaels had long, silky hair, like flaxen tow, 

 and they gave it a tinge of bright red by frequent 

 washing in lime lye. Sometimes they smeared it 

 with rancid grease and let it hang down over their 

 shoulders in all its length; sometimes they gathered 

 it above the forehead in a high tuft or mane, to make 



