Tattooing is a form of mutilation that is followed by the two large tribes of Taiyal and Paiwan; the small tribe of Saisett imitating the system in vogue among the Taiyal; the Tsarisen and Piyuma imitating that of the Paiwan. The Taiyal system is the most distinctive, and seems to have the greatest significance as indicating the status of the individual in the tribe. The tattooing of the Taiyal is on the face. When a child--whether boy or girl--reaches the age of about five, it has tattooed on its forehead a series of horizontal lines, each line being about half an inch in length. These lines are repeated, one above another, from a point between the eyebrows to one just below the roots of the hair; the design when finished giving the impression of a finely striped rectangle about half an inch in width and two and a half inches in height. Usually several children are tattooed at the same time, and the occasion is made one of feasting and dancing. The children are by this ceremony formally accepted as members of the tribe, entitled to its rights and privileges, and also expected to bear some share of its duties and responsibilities. It is usually at this time that a boy is made to lay his hand upon the head of an enemy decapitated by his father--a custom to which reference has previously been made. A Japanese lecturer in a paper read before the China Society in London in 1916--and afterwards published--said, in speaking of the Taiyal: “When a boy attains the age of five or six he tattoos on his forehead a series of three blocks of horizontal lines,” etc. “A girl also tattoos her forehead at the same age.” It was probably the English of the lecturer in question that was at fault, not his knowledge of the subject. As a matter of fact, no child tattoos itself. It is always an adult--usually a priestess--who tattoos the child. The latter reclines upon the ground; the tattooer stands behind the child and strikes its forehead with a tattooing implement. This is a piece of bamboo--occasionally wood--with a number of thorns (from six to ten) fastened at one end, somewhat resembling a miniature toothbrush.[97] Often a block of wood is held in the tattooer’s other hand, and with this the tattooing implement is struck after it has been laid upon the forehead; this ensures a stronger blow, and one more accurately placed. It seems necessary that blood be drawn; this is wiped away, and into each puncture a sort of native lamp-black--obtained by burning oily nuts--is rubbed; the effect is to produce lines in the design described above.