1840 - Polack, J. S. Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders [Capper reprint, 1976] - Chapter IV

       
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  1840 - Polack, J. S. Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders [Capper reprint, 1976] - Chapter IV
 
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CHAPTER IV

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CHAPTER IV.

PRESERVED HEADS. ----PROCESS EMPLOYED. ----AND RESEMBLANCE RETAINED OF THEIR ORIGINAL STATE. ----EXCISION OF THE TONGUE. ----SERVICE RENDERFD BY DECOLLATION. ----PRACTICES IN CONNECTION WITH DECAPITATION. ----BRITISH COMMERCE IN PRESERVED HEADS, PROHIBITED BY GOVERNOR DARLING. ----ON THE MOKO OR PUNCTURING THE BODY, ---- DISTINGUISHING TRAITS UNOBSERVABLE TO EUROPEANS, ITS ORIGIN. ----PURPOSES FOR WHICH IT WAS ORIGINALLY USED. ----MADE SUBSERVIENT TO IDOLATRY. ----TORTURES INFLICTED BY ITS PERFORMANCE, AND EFFECTS WHEN PERFORMED. ----EXPERTNESS OF VARIOUS TRIBES IN THE ART. ----THE PINTADOS. ----PERFORMED ON EUROPEANS. ----MEDICAL EFFECTS. ----REPRESENTATIONS PRODUCED ON THE HEAD AND BODY. ---- CURIOUS INSCRIPTION ON THE BREAST OF A SAILOR. --EFFECTS ON AGE. ----INSIGNIAS OF A TRIBE. ----SIGN MANUALS OF CHIEFTAINSHIP. ----PROFESSORS IN THE ART OF TATTOOING. ----CONVEYANCING OF ESTATES ----FEMALE PUNCTURING. ----ITS DECADENCE.

THE trophies of native warfare consist in the slaves captured, and the tattooed heads of the enemy, which are cut off, and preserved after the peculiar manner of the country. The brains, eyes, and tongue are extracted, and the interior of the scull carefully cleansed from any putrefying remains; the inside is filled with dressed flax, and the skin hanging from the neck is closed up, being drawn together like a closed purse, it is then demi-cooked by the steaming process peculiar to the people, and the fat carefully wiped off, it is then exposed to the strong rays of the sun, and at night to the smoke of a wood fire, which is sufficient to preserve it for many years, with an occasional airing,

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as a preservative from damp. Heads that have undergone this unnatural process, become remarkably contracted, the original likeness is well preserved, but often the head of a powerful full-grown man, shrinks in size to that of a boy of ten years. These deplorable remnants of mortality are often produced 1 as the "return killed" of the conquerors. They are placed on poles in the most conspicuous part of the village, and are produced as guaranties of the valour of the tribe, on gala days, and on the reception of noble visitors. Some of those heads have the horrible expression the face assumes on meeting with a violent death, the black bushy beards and whiskers strongly contrasting with the awfully cadaverous colour of the skin. These heads are often more serviceable, after life is extinct, in preserving peace, than they could have boasted of being, while gifted with health and

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vigour, as when a peace is to be ratified, the captors carry those remnants of mortality to the surviving friends, and if peace is effected, they are immediately returned to them. On a family viewing the heads of their departed relations, they burst forth into cantatory impromptu's, expressing admiration of the courage and affections of the deceased, and work themselves into furious passions, expressive of the cruelty of their enemies, who could thus cruelly deprive them of the company of those relatives, whose esteemed affections are to gladden their tribe and relatives no longer. Preserved heads are not always returned, 2 as when the conquerors despise the numbers of the inimical tribes, these heads are sold to Europeans, who have been found sufficiently depraved to trade in such objects of horror. We believe that some years since they were absolutely entered into the books of the Customs of Sydney, New South Wales, under the head of "imports," until the humanity of Governor Darling rendered criminal the nefarious traffic, and its being persisted in liable to a rigorous prosecution. Many a battle and predatory excursion has been undertaken, expressly to obtain "choice tattooed heads" for British traders, to

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supply the wants of the public museums in Europe, and the private tastes of domestic connoisseurs. E'Moko or the art of tattooing is universally practised by the New Zealanders, and is one of those prominent facts, (yet persisted in,) that incontestably proves the Asiatic origin of the people. 3 The men chiefly delight in these stains and incisions which are so far from being confined to one fashion or pattern, that tribes are known by such distinctive marks, and many chiefs whose countenances have never been seen by a distant tribe, are known,

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simply by the distinguishing mark which has been peculiarly engraved on their countenances. We had several opportunities of testing this fact, from having taken some likenesses of the chiefs residing at the north, and on showing them to some families resident at a distance upwards of 400 miles, they were immediately distinguished and named, though no connexion existed between those persons, or had they even at any period seen each other. Yet to Europeans unobservant of national characteristics, and to new coiners in the country, the marks of the moko appear as if performed by the same person from the same pattern, but the contrary is the fact, an exceedingly marked difference exists. The process of puncturing is attended with intense pain, the victim to this curious fashion, lies recumbent, wincing and writhing at every stroke given by the operator, the body quivering under

The art of Tattooing practised.

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the torments inflicted. The head of the patient rests for convenience on the knees of the artist. The pattern about to be engraved is painted in lines, by a small piece of stick dipped in powdered charcoal and water. The first attempt is applied to the lips, then the forehead, cheeks, &c., are submitted to the same process. The implements made use of are formed of bone, or hard wood, fashioned like a chisel, which is made to cut deep in the flesh by a smart tap applied to the handle.

The blood gushes forth at every stroke, which the puncturer carefully wipes away with a piece of scraped flax or the end of his garment. Charcoal is afterwards powdered and let into the wounds, (gunpowder has often been substituted,) which leaves a blue mark, that time can never wholly efface. 4

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Native implements used in Tattooing.

Tattooing is generally commenced at an early age, but the pain attending the operation is so intense, that many years elapse previous to this facial decoration being completed. After a series of years, some chiefs have had the courage and patience to be retouched and renovated. The moko is not confined to the face, as the breast, arms, hands, thighs, and breech are similarly decorated, that so much astonished the Spaniards when they discovered the Philippine Islands, that they termed the natives Pintados, or painted people.

The nice exactitude of the lines represented in the moko, is scarcely to be surpassed, displaying

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Pattern for Tattooing engraved on the faces off the natives.

the fancy and taste of the artist. Notwithstanding their variety, the designs, it would appear, have been in vogue from time immemorial. Several Europeans have disfigured themselves with these barbarous embellishments, and the contrast of the blue lines on a livid complexion in appearance has a disgusting effect. Notwithstanding its adding a ferocity to the native aspect, yet habitude relieves us from viewing the moko with displeasure, and in some faces it is not wholly unbecoming. 5 Swellings and inflammation

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follow puncturing as practised by the New Zealanders, and death has even been known to have ensued in consequence. It has the peculiar effect of adding the appearance of premature age to a young person, and a contrary effect to the face of an adult. Persons at all ages and of all ranks who possess means or influence to obtain it, get tattooed, chiefs, freedmen, hereditary bondsmen, and slaves. Though often a distinctive insignia for a tribe, yet it is no sign of rank, as warriors are captured at all ages, marked or otherwise, and no apparent difference exists in the society of a kainga maori or native village. Some adult chiefs may be seen

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without a single line on the face, whereas some young persons have punctured their bodies absolutely black with the quantity of circles and figures lavishly bestowed on themselves. In the flight of an army or in the butchering of prisoners, those heads that are best punctured are decollated at the neck, for future preservation, but the possessor of an unmarked head is battered and crushed with the most savage brutality. Tattooing is the sign-manual and crest of a native chief. In title-deeds of land-purchases, or receipts of any description, the moko or fac-similes on the face of a chief are correctly represented by him on paper. 6 The initials or crest on the seal attached to the watch, or ring of a European is accounted by a native as the "moko" of its owner. They take much pride in adding the various curvatures of the moko to their signatures, and our risibility has often been excited in viewing an aged chief, whose scant locks had weathered upwards of seventy winters, drawing with intense care, his signature, with inclined head and extended tongue, as is the wont of young European practitioners in the art of penmanship.

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Signature of E'Gnogni, a Chief of Mukou, lat. 38 deg, S. now resident in London, drawn by himself on the wood.
Signatures of Wakaihi, Titore, and Hara, Chiefs of the Bay of Islands

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Signature of Kowiti, a, Chief of Waimate and Maunganui.

The professors in the art of puncturing are regarded by their less able countrymen, as men of great talent, and are held in much repute. Presents and payments flow into their coffers from all quarters, according to the means or ability of the chiefs. Double-barrelled pieces, canoes, clothes, and even slaves, have been presented as a convincing proof of the esteem in which their talents have been held. The natives of the East Cape are accounted as particularly clever in this art, and when slaves have been acquainted with it, their advancement from, bondage has been immediate. The females are also tattooed, but in a trifling degree. Their favourite marks are horizontal lines even

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with the form of the mouth on their lips, and a few lines between the eye-brows. 7

Tattooing is now getting into disrepute, and within a very few years, from the increase of colonists arriving from every quarter of the globe, the practice will be altogether discontinued.

1   The Egyptians generally gathered the tongues of the slain, as evidence of the numbers they had killed. Many of the prisoners were treated in a similar manner, when the number of the conquered rendered if prudent to leave them behind. The Greeks generally decollated their deserters. The ghastly spectacles that were affixed to Temple-bar and the gate heads of the principal cities in Great Britain, as the last mementoes of revenge and derision that the living could exert towards the dead, are yet in the remembrance of many persons now existing, was among the latest practices of the many cruelties that peculiarly distinguish the civilized from the savage.
2   At the battle of Lignitz between the Poles and the Tartars, the latter filled nine large sacks with the ears of the slain and prisoners. --Puffendorf.
3   Tattooing among the ancients was originally intended as marks of honour and beauty but gradually sank into such disrepute, that it was common for slaves, (to prevent their escape,) to have the name of their master inscribed by punctures on the forehead. Impures were also branded as a mark of derision to the more godly and chaste of the sex. In these two cases fire was made use of. Soldiers were also in the habit of personally puncturing the name of their general, if famous, in lieu of which, the title and number of the battalion was inscribed. The Hebrews also punctured themselves in imitation of the nations around Palestine, until prohibited by the Mosaic dispensation (Lev. c.19, v.28.) Tattooing is metaphorically introduced by Isaiah (c.46, v.16.) Those idolaters (of Palestine) were in the habit of puncturing in the flesh, the representation of their deities, the Greeks sketched a fish, the Egyptians an Ibis or monstrous Anubis, the Philistines a serpentine Baal and Dagon. The Hindoos, the likenesses of Vishnu and Siva in different colours, and the incarnation of the gods.
4   The mark in the forehead of Cain has been likened by some commentators to puncturing, and the imitations made by his children, as the origin of tattooing. In Ezekiel (c.9, v.6.) we find a mark is placed on the foreheads of those men who were righteous in the city. In Jeremiah (c.48, v.37,) cuttings on the hands, is made to denote sorrow. The ancient Peruvians represented the Sun on their bodies, as the emblem of the deity they adored. Other nations practised it as a mark of mourning, similar to some barbarians cutting off the joint of a finger. The Picts, Scots, Celts, Goths, and Anglo-Britons, severally practised tattooing, making representations of animals, trees, fish, insects, the celestial bodies, &c.; these were punctured, in addition to painting. The Arabs, especially the females, are extremely expert at the present day in this art, as are also many tribes in the Turkish dominions, and nations tributary to the Porte and the Czar; by this means the women become architects and landscape gardeners, as all kinds of trees, fruits, houses, fountains, ships, &c., are thus indelibly represented on their bodies.
5   The most rude specimens of puncturing at the present day is practised by the Sandwich Islanders. The most curious is the moko of the Marquesas savages, the Radak Chain and New Irelanders. The Tahitians make use of circles and lozenge forms. The natives of the Carolines and Rurick Archipels, the Admiralty Isles, &c., represent on their breasts, thighs, breech, &c., Coco-palms, animals, lizards, fish, etc. The upper bodies of some natives represents a check shirt, the nether part of others, a pair of chequered pantaloons or drawers. All kinds of implements are affixed in resemblance on others, such as bottles, pistols, axes, warriors' clubs, ships, boats, whales, birds, trees, &c. The necks and throats of many exhibit fancy wrappers. Seamen of the various nations of Europe, that visit the South Seas, are in the habit of tattooing their arms, breasts, with their initials, anchors, &c., and we remember one British tar, whose overflowing love dictated him to puncture on his breast, "I Joe R----n love Sally Jenkins," but after a three years' cruise, finding that in love she was tried, but found wanting, added underneath, "It's a l--."
6   The want of parchment, and expenses attending the art of writing among the Anglo-Saxons and Normans, caused the conveyance of great estates among families to consist in the ceremony of a piece of turf, and a stone belonging to the land, to be delivered by the owner to the purchaser before witnesses. --Ingulphus.
7   According to Burckhardt, all the Arab females stain their lips blue, like the New Zealand women, in addition to puncturing them; this they term bertoum, and also apply it in spotting their temples and foreheads, the Serkam women tattoo their cheeks, breasts and arms, and those of the Ammour tribes, similarly decorate their ancles. The men are yet more deeply punctured.
It is a curious fact, that the early inhabitants of every known portion of the globe have been given more or less to facial displays of this barbarous fashion. The Gauls and ancient Britons presented a similar appearance to the Roman in this particular, as the New Zealanders do to us at the present day. The term of Pict (Picti) is evidently the distinguishing name, par excellence, of tribes, who painted, or "made cuttings in their flesh," (to use the words of Scripture.)
Writers on this subject are agreed, that the Britons thus painted their bodies to render themselves objects of fear to the more effeminate enemies. The word "tattoo," signifying a repetition of tapping with the hand, or striking, is a Polynesian word, but unknown in New Zealand: moko, marking; or e moko, the marking, being the original native term.
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