TATTOOING FEMALES. 
341 
method of performing the operation is as follows ; 
the person whose back is to be tattooed is taken out 
early in the morning and squatted on the ground 
with her back towards the operator (always a male), 
and her head bent down between the knees of a 
strong old woman who is sitting on the ground for 
that purpose ; the back is thus presented in the 
best position to the operator, and the girl, as long 
as her head is kept firmly in its position, cannot 
possibly arise until all is over. The man who per- 
forms the ceremony then commences by taking hold 
of a fold of the flesh on the girl’s right side, just 
above the breech, with his left hand, whilst with his 
right he holds a piece of flint or shell, and cuts per- 
pendicular gashes an inch long, three-sixteenths of 
an inch deep, and about half an inch apart, in hori- 
zontal lines from right to left quite across the back, 
the rows being half an inch or three-quarters dis- 
tant from each other. 
This is carried up the whole way from where he 
commences to the shoulders, and when freshly done, 
presents one of the most dreadful spectacles imagin- 
able, the blood gushes out in torrents, and though 
frequently wiped away with grass by some of the 
women present, is scarcely removed before the crim- 
son stream flows as profusely as ever. During the 
time of the ceremony the mother and other female 
relations lament and mourn, whilst they lacerate 
their bodies with shells. When the incisions are all 
made, grass or boughs are warmed at the fire, to 
