The extremists in this custom are the Botocudos, who represent
the most cruel and ferocious of the Brazilian tribes, and who
especially cherish a love for cannibalism. They have a fondness
for disfiguring themselves by inserting in the lower parts of
their ears and in their under lips variously shaped pieces of
wood ornaments called peleles, causing enormous protrusion of the
under lip and a repulsive wide mouth, as shown in Figure 230.
Tattooing is a peculiar custom originating in various ways. The
materials used are vermilion, indigo, carbon, or gunpowder. At
one time this custom was used in the East to indicate caste and
citizenship. Both sexes of the Sandwich Islanders have a peculiar
tattooed mark indicative of their tribe or district. Among the
Uapes, one tribe, the Tucanoes, have three vertical blue lines.
Among other people tattooed marks indicated servility, and Boyle
says the Kyans, Pakatans, and Kermowits alone, among the Borneo
people, practised tattooing, and adds that these races are the
least esteemed for bravery. Of the Fijians the women alone are
tattooed, possibly as a method of adornment.
The tattooing of the people of Otaheite, seen by Cook, was
surmised by him to have a religious significance, as it presented
in many instances "squares, circles, crescents, and ill-designed
representations of men and dogs.
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