4iS Memoirs Bcrnicc P. Bishop Miisciiiii 



the flat stone. Tliere were twenty nuts in eacli string, altlinugh the reasun for this was 

 unknown to the informant. The soot which collected on the under side of the flat stone was 

 scraped off and packed in a small coconut shell (PI. lx.w. .-]. 1). To make the charcoal pig- 

 ment, coconut charcoal was pulverized with a small stone pounder. For this purpose smooth 

 circular pits, common in large stones near villages, are said by natives to have been used as 

 mortars. These pits are so numerous, however, that they must have been used for other pur- 

 poses as well. 



In tattooing', the mounted comb wa.-^ held in the riglit hand, and a tapping 

 stick of toa wood, about one foot long, in the left. A tapa rag was wrapped 

 a round the last two fingers of the right hand. The designs to be tattooed were 

 usually drawn on the body in charcoal, but the most experienced artists frequently 

 worked free hand. The comb was dipped in the ink and driven into the skin by a 

 shar]) blow from the tapping stick, the coloring matter running down the teeth 

 into the wound. After each stroke the blood was wiped away with the rag. 



The body was tattooed in sections, three days being allowed between oper- 

 ations for the healing of the wotmd. The texture of the skin does not seem to 

 have been greatly altered by the operation, and flesh carving of the sort done by 

 the Maori was unknown. The process was a long and painful one. 



The many social and ceremonial observances connected with the tattooing 

 of men, and especially of chiefs" sons, are described by Handy (32). A dis- 

 cussion of the practice of tattooing and of the designs used has been published b\' 

 \\'illowdean C. Handy (32 a). 



MUTILATIONS 



The bodily mutilations practiced by the Marquesans were circumcision ( t,2), 

 the piercing" of the ears and depilation. 



The natives of both sexes pierced the ears for the attachment of orna- 

 ments. The operation was performed with a special awl-like instrument. The 

 favorite material for these instritments was human bone, btit bird bone and even 

 tortoise shell were sometimes used. Practically all ear piercers were carved at the 

 upper end, the decorations consisting for the most part of conventionalized human 

 faces or figures. (See PI. Lxxv, B.) Many specimens have a loop of sennit per- 

 manently attached to the upper end. while almost all are drilled for suspension. 

 Such piercers were treasured in families as heirlooms, but seem to have no re- 

 ligious significance. 



The ear aperture was somewhat larger than in pierced European ears, be- 

 ing j4 to ^ of an inch in diameter, but dilation of the ear lobe does not seem to 

 have been practiced. Some of the men's ear ornaments strongly suggest ear plugs, 

 however, and it is possible that dilation of the ear lobe, common in Melanesia, was 

 at one time practiced in the Marquesas. If so, it had become obsolete before the 

 historic period, as it is not mentioned bv anv of the early writers. 



[158] 



