SELF-INFLICTED SUFFERINGS. 485 



that so much, good food may not be lost In fine, so 



little importance is attached to them, either before or after 

 death, that it may be doubted whether the man does not 

 value his dog, when alive, quite as much as he does his 

 woman, and think of both quite as often and lovingly after 

 he has eaten them."* 



Not content, however, with those incident to their mode of 

 life, savages appear to take a melancholy pleasure in self- 

 inflicted sufferings. Besides the very general practice of 

 tattooing, the most extraordinary methods of disfigurement 

 and self-torture are adopted ; some cut off the little finger, 

 some make an i-m.Tn.ense hole in the under lip, or pierce the 

 cartilage of the nose. The Easter Islanders enlarge their 

 ears till they come down to their shoulders ; the Chinooks, 

 and many other American tribes, alter the shape of their 

 heads ; the Chinese that of their feet. Some of the African 

 tribes chip their teeth in various manners, each community 

 having a fashion of its own. The Nyambanas, a division of 

 the Caffres, are characterised by a row of artificial pimples or 

 warts, about the size of a pea, and extending from the upper 

 part of the forehead to the tip of the nose. " Of these they 

 are proud, "f Some of the Bachapins, who have distinguished 

 themselves in battle, are allowed the privilege of marking 

 " their thigh with a long scar, which is rendered indelible 

 and of a bluish color, by means of wood ashes rubbed into . 

 the fresh wound." J In Australia, Captain King saw a native 

 ornamented with horizontal scars which extended across the 

 upper part of the chest. They were at least an inch in 

 diameter and protruded half an inch from the body.g In 

 some parts of Australia, and in Tasmania, all the men have 



* Trans. Ethn. Soc., New Ser., voL I Burchell, I.e. vol. ii., pp. 478, 535. 



iii., p. 248. { Narrative of a Survey of the Inter- 



t United States' Exploring Expe- tropical and Western Coasts of Austra- 



dition, vol. i., p. 63. lia, p. 42. 



