Their Complexions Are Lighter Than Those Of The
Men.
There are not many here even as dark as our European
brunettes.
A few unite the eyebrows by a streak of tattooing, so
as to produce a straight line. Like the men, they cut their hair
short for two or three inches above the nape of the neck, but
instead of using a fillet they take two locks from the front and
tie them at the back.
They are universally tattooed, not only with the broad band above
and below the mouth, but with a band across the knuckles, succeeded
by an elaborate pattern on the back of the hand, and a series of
bracelets extending to the elbow. The process of disfigurement
begins at the age of five, when some of the sufferers are yet
unweaned. I saw the operation performed on a dear little bright
girl this morning. A woman took a large knife with a sharp edge,
and rapidly cut several horizontal lines on the upper lip,
following closely the curve of the very pretty mouth, and before
the slight bleeding had ceased carefully rubbed in some of the
shiny soot which collects on the mat above the fire. In two or
three days the scarred lip will be washed with the decoction of the
bark of a tree to fix the pattern, and give it that blue look which
makes many people mistake it for a daub of paint. A child who had
this second process performed yesterday has her lip fearfully
swollen and inflamed.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 326 of 417
Words from 89619 to 89876
of 115002
