In some Naga villages it is the custom, for a man who has committed murder in cutting off the head of a foreigner, to be joined by ten or a dozen Nagas in submitting to the operation of tattooing; which in such cases is an indispensable ceremony. The tattooing is pricked round the calves of the legs in ten or twelve rings or circles interspersed with dots; the thighs, the breast, the neck, the fingers, the back of the hand, the arms, the forehead, and nose, the vicinity of the eyes and the ears being similarly decorated. The poorest Naga peasant deems it an honour to have his body thus embellished with stripes, figures, and dots; and the omission of the ceremony would entail on him eternal disgrace and censure. Indeed, the tattooing determines the character and consequence of the individual; for by certain marks on one arm it is apparent that he has killed a man; when both arms and body are scarred he is known to have murdered two individuals; and when the face and eye-sockets are indelibly impressed with the tattoo, he stands proclaimed the assassin of three of his fellow-creatures, and is thenceforth esteemed a valiant warrior. On the question being once put to the Nagas whether they would like to become the subjects of the Company, they promptly replied,--"No: we could not then cut off the heads of men and attain renown as warriors, bearing the honourable marks of our valour on our bodies and faces." If a Naga happens to be suddenly surprised, and cut off by the inhabitants of a neighbouring village, his corpse is quickly taken up by his friends and placed on a platform in the jungles near the road. At the expiration of three or four days they perform some ceremonies, and wait till a favourable opportunity occurs for avenging his death. The purpose is never relinquished, though its execution may unavoidably be tardy: by day and night they lie in ambush in the jungle, or on the plains near the roads, till they can pounce upon some unwary individual of the enemy. His murder is then communicated to his friends in a singular way. Forty or fifty Nagas, armed with wooden clubs, strike a large hollow piece of wood called a tomkhong, from which a loud, terrific sound proceeds, which gives token to the enemy that one of their tribe has died in acquittance of the debt of revenge. To such an extent does this vindictive spirit prevail, that the Nagas will wait for two or three generations devising plans for decapitating a member of a tribe who has murdered one of their clan; and when the opportunity of vengeance offers, they are sure to take advantage of it, regardless of the personal innocence of the man whom they select as the victim of their fury. The death of the victim is hailed with dance and song, and the liveliest demonstrations of joy: even the old men, women, and children seem in raptures at the announcement of the joyful tidings that their tribe has succeeded in taking revenge. Naga Customs from Childhood until Marriage.