486 SELF-INFLICTED SUFFERINGS. 



a tooth knocked out in a very clumsy and painful manner.* 

 " The inhabitants of Tanna have on their arms and bellies 

 elevated scars, representing plants, flowers, stars, and various 

 other figures. They are made by first cutting the skin with 

 a sharp bamboo reed, and then applying a certain plant to 

 the wound which raises the scar above the rest of the skin. 

 The inhabitants of Tazavan, or Formosa, by a very painful 

 operation impress on their naked skins various figures of 

 trees, flowers, and animals. The great men in Guinea have 

 their skin flowered like damask ; and in Decan the women 

 likewise have flowers cut into their flesh on the forehead, the 

 arms, and the breast, and the elevated scars are painted in 

 colors, and exhibit the appearance of flowered damask, "f 

 The native women in New South Wales used to tie a string 

 tightly round the little finger and wear it until the finger 

 rotted off. Few of these escaped the painful experience. J 

 The North American Indians also inflicted the most horrible 

 tortures upon themselves. These, and many other curious 

 practices, are none the less painful because they are 

 voluntary. 



If we turn to the bright side of the question, the whole 

 analogy of nature justifies us in concluding that the pleasures 

 of civilised man are greater than those of the savage. As 

 we descend in the scale of organisation, we find that animals 

 become more and more vegetative in their characteristics ; 

 with less susceptibility to pain, and consequently less capacity 

 for happiness. It may, indeed, well be doubted whether 

 some of those beings, which from their anatomy we are com- 

 pelled to class as animals, have much more consciousness of 

 enjoyment, or even of existence, than a tree or a seaweed. 

 But even to animals which possess a clearly defined nervous 

 system, we must ascribe very different degrees of sensibility. 



* Freycinet, vol. ii., p. 705. f Forster, I.e. p. 588. J D'Uryille, vol. i., p. 406. 



