58 RIO JANEIRO. 
tants of both regions, and which may be compared with the practice 
of tattooing which prevails throughout the tribes of Polynesia, viz., 
the custom of cutting or branding certain marks upon the face and 
body, by which the individuals of one tribe may be distinguished 
from those of any other. This practice is general among all the 
Minas, and also prevails along the eastern or Mozambique coast of 
Southern Africa. Among the western or Congo tribes it does not 
appear to be universal. It will be readily understood that these 
marks are of great service to the slave-traders, and all that have much 
to do with native Africans soon learn to distinguish them, and the 
price of a slave is depressed or enhanced accordingly. Among the 
Mma nations, so called after a port on the Slave Coast in Upper 
Guinea, where these slaves are obtained, this practice is carried 
to its greatest extent. Each province or city of importance has a 
distinct brand or mark, which is invariable for all the inhabitants. 
Of the tribes speaking the Houssa language, the Goobere, or 
Guberi, from the kingdom of Bornou, have three or four marks on 
each side of the mouth, converging towards the corners. 
^s^P)^^ 
Those from the town of Kano, inhabited by a population of traders, 
have several perpendicular and parallel marks on each cheek. 
ww ^—^ mi 
The same mark prevails among the people of Kashua and Labbi, 
neighbours of the foregoing. 
The Soccatoos, or Sakatus, on a branch of the Quorra, have several 
fine oblique marks, converging towards the corners of the mouth. 
Dawwarra or Dawara : these have parallel oblique lines, drawn to 
the corners of the mouth, with shorter marks meeting or bordering 
them above and below. 
The men of the Nago or Yarribe nation, on the west bank of the 
Niger or Quorra, below the Houssa, have three or four longitudinal 
marks on each side of the mouth. 
LU . . III mi ,,,, 
