MALLERY. | TATTOO IN AFRICA. 415 
that the notables “‘du Tinge” do not disfigure themselves by incisions. 
The distinctive sign of the lower classes is the presence of three incis- 
ions on the temples, three on the cheeks, and three also on the lower 
part of the face. 
Notes on East-Equatorial Africa, in Bull. Soe. @’ Anthro. de Brux- 
elles (a) contains the following memoranda: Tattooing is done by 
traveling artists. Perhaps at first it showed tribal characteristies, 
but now it is difficult to distinguish more than fancy. The exception 
is that Wawenba alone tattoo the face. The local fetiches bear marks 
of tattoo. 
Gordon Cumming (a) says: 
One of the ‘‘ generals” of Mosielely, King of the Bakatlas group of the Bechuana 
tribe, had killed about twenty men in battle with his own hand, and bore a mark of 
honor for every man. This mark was a line tattooed on his ribs. 
David Greig Rutherford (a) makes remarks on the people of Batanga, 
West Tropical Africa, from which the following is extracted: 
Tattooing evidently originated in certain marks being applied to the face and 
other parts of the body in order to distinguish the members of one tribe from those 
of another. The same marks would be used for both sexes, but as the tendency to 
ornamentation became developed, they would be apt to observe some artistic method 
in making them. Among the Dualles the custom at one time appears to have ob- 
tained with both sexes, with a preponderance, however, in the practice of it on the 
side of the women. The men did not always see the force of giving themselves 
needless pain, but the women, with a shrewd idea that it added to their charms, 
persisted in having it done. The men (and it is significant that in places where the 
men have ceased to tattoo themselves they continue to do it for the women) tattooed 
their children at an early age, but as the girls approached a marriageable age they 
added, on their own account, various ornamentations to those already existing. As 
an example that tattooing in its later stages is regarded as an increase of beauty, I 
may mention an instance given me by the wife of amissionary here. A woman belong- 
ing to some neighboring tribe having come to stay at the mission, was presented 
with a dress of some showy material as an inducement to her to discard the loin 
cloth she had been in the habit of wearing and as an introduction to the habits of 
civilized life. She objected to wear the dress, however, upon the ground that if 
she did so she would thereby hide her beauty. It appears certain that the unmar- 
ried woman who is most finely tattooed wins most admiration from the men. 
Oscar Peschel (a) describes tattooing as another substitute for rai- 
ment and remarks: ‘“‘That it actually takes away from the impression 
of nudity is declared by all who have seen fully tattooed Albanese.” 
As bearing in the same direction Mr. Darwin, in ‘“ Voyage of the 
Beagle,” may be quoted, who, when at New Zealand, speaking of the 
clean, tidy, and healthy appearance of the young women who acted as 
servants within the houses, remarks: ‘The wives of the missionaries 
tried to persuade them not to be tattooed, but a famous operator hav- 
ing arrived from the south they said: ‘We really must have a few 
lines on our lips, else when we grow old our lips will shrivel, and we 
shall be so very ugly.’” 
In September, 1891, a Zulu, claiming to be a son of the late Cetewayo, 
gave to a reporter of the Memphis Avalanche the following account: 
When some one expressed a doubt of his coming from Zululand he promptly rolled 
