342 
TATTOOING FEMALES. 
wipe off the blood. The whole scene is most revolt- 
ing and disgusting ; the ground near where the poor 
creature sits is saturated with blood, and the whole 
back is one mass of coagulated gore. In one case, 
where I saw this operation performed upon a girl 
belonging to the Paritke tribe, she seemed to suffer 
much pain. At first, until nearly a row of scars 
had been made across the lower part of the back, she 
bore the operation well, but as it proceeded, her 
cries were piteous and unceasing, and before it was 
concluded, they became the most heart-rending 
screams of agony. From the position in which she 
was held, however, by the old woman on the ground 
(and who, by the way, was her mother,) it was im- 
possible for her to stir or escape ; indeed, had she 
attempted it, she would probably have been most 
cruelly beaten in addition. 
The ceremony occupied three-quarters of an hour, 
but it was two hours before the wounds had ceased 
to bleed, and even then, the dried blood was not 
washed off. Two kangaroo teeth, and a tuft of emu 
feathers were tied to the girl’s hair, and she was 
smeared over with grease and red ochre, but was 
still forbidden to touch food until the morning. 
Many weeks elapse before the wounds heal, and 
the inconveniences attending them are removed. 
In another case that I saw, the girl bore the 
operation most stoically, until about two-thirds 
over, when she could stand it no longer, but scream- 
ing out in agony, applied her teeth and nails with 
