and filling the openings with clay.[1] Both men and women mark themselves in this manner; and in Queensland it is rare to see a native without cicatrices on the shoulder.
On the plains beyond Nundawar, Sir Thomas Mitchell saw a man with scarifications all over his body; and Sir Thomas stated, quite correctly, that these scars or ridges distinguish the Australian natives in all parts of the continent. They have attracted the attention of all voyagers, and are mentioned by Cook. Oxley on his journey saw two natives, both youths, not exceeding twenty years of age, most horribly marked by the skin and flesh being raised in long stripes all over the back and body. Some of the stripes were full three-quarters of an inch deep, and were so close together that scarcely any of the original skin was to be seen between them.[2]
The figures—from photographs—given in this work show how this mode of decoration was practised. Though they are used certainly as tribal marks, the pain and misery attendant on such cuttings are endured more for the purpose of adornment than anything else. A man covered with these ridges of flesh is very proud of his appearance, and would not hide them if he could.[3]
It is not unprofitable to compare the modes of ornamentation in common use in Australia with those of neighbouring races.
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| FIG. 50. |
The people of New Guinea decorate their weapons and implements much after the fashion of the Fijians, using in all the specimens I have examined black and white, to give effect to their patterns. Some of the lines, however, are unlike any I have seen on Fijian weapons, and greatly resemble the forms that appear on some of the razor-knives from Denmark, of the age of bronze. I have copied these lines from a wooden drum of the New Guinea natives.—(Fig. 50.)
- ↑ Collins says that the scars are made with the broken pieces of shell that they use at the end of the throwing-stick. By keeping open the incisions, the flesh grows up between the sides of the wound, and after a time, skinning over, forms a large weal or seam.—New South Wales, 1804, p. 358.
- ↑ Journal of Two Expeditions into the Interior of New South Wales, by John Oxley, 1817-18, p. 172.
- ↑ At the village of Tassai, on the largest of the Brumer group, Macgillivray saw specimens of tattooing. He says:—"This practice of tattooing the body, or marking it with coloring matter introduced into the skin by means of punctures or incisions, is rarely exhibited by the men, and in them is usually confined to a few blue lines or stars upon the right breast; in some instances, however, the markings consisted of a double series of large stars and dots stretching from the shoulder toward the pit of the stomach. Among the women the tattooing extends over the face, fore part of the arms, and whole front of body, continued backwards a little way over the shoulders, usually, but not always, leaving the back untouched. The pattern for the body consists of series of vertical stripes, less than an inch apart, connected by zigzag and other markings—that over the face is more complicated, and on the forearm and wrist it is frequently so elaborate as to assume the appearance of beautiful lace-work."—Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, vol. I., pp. 262-3.
