m PORTER’S JOURNAL 
shells as tweezers to pluck out the beard and hair on different 
parts of the body. 
Tattooing is performed by means of a machine made of bone 
something like a comb with the teeth only on one side; the points 
of the teeth are rubbed with a black paint made of burnt cocoa- 
nut shell ground to powder, and mixed with water; this is struck 
into the flesh by means of a heavy piece of wood which serves the 
purpose of a hammer; the operation is extremely painfui and 
streams of blood follow every blow, yet pride induces them to 
bear this torture, and they even suffer themselves to be tied down 
while the operation is performing in order that their agony may 
not interrupt the operator. The men commence tattooing as soon 
as they are able to bear the pain; they begin at the age of eighteen 
or nineteen and are rarely completely tattooed until they arrive 
at the age of thirty-five. The women begin about the same age; 
they have only their legs, arms, and hands tattooed, which is done 
with extraordinary neatness and delicacy, and some slight lines 
drawn across their lips. It is also the practice with some to have 
the inside of their lips tattooed, but the object of this ornament f 
could never find out, as it is never seen unless they turn out their 
lips to show it. Every tribe in the island, I observed, were tat¬ 
tooed after a different fashion, and I was informed that every line 
had its meaning, and gave to the bearer certain privileges at their 
feasts. This practice of tattooing sometimes occasions sores 
which fester and are several weeks before they heal; it however 
never produces any serious consequences, or leaves any scars 
behind. 
Fleurien, in his account of the Marquesas, says that the men 
are in the habit of tying a ligature around the extremity of a cer¬ 
tain part of the body, which proves that they are not subject te 
circumcision. The same is practised, as 1 before observed, at the 
Island of Ooahoogah, and it is also the practice here; but notwith- 
standing this they are all circumcised, not in the manner of Jews, 
but by having the foreskin slit; and the instrument used for this 
purpose is a shark's tooth. The operation is performed on children 
by the priests, and on those occasions they have feasts abundant in 
proportion to the wealth of the parents. Nor is Mr. Fleurien’s 
op nion 5 as to the object of those ligatures* more correct; he sup 
