The _uhi_ or instrument used was a small chisel, made of the bone of an albatross, very narrow and sharp, which was driven by means of a little mallet, _he mahoe_, quite through the skin, and sometimes completely through the cheek as well, in which case when the person undergoing the operation took his pipe, the smoke found its way out through the cuttings; the pain was excruciating, especially in the more tender parts, and caused dreadful swellings, only a small piece could be done at a time; the operator held in his hand a piece of _muka_, flax, dipped in the pigment, which he drew over the incision immediately it was made; the blood which flowed freely from the wound was constantly wiped away with a bit of flax; the pattern was first drawn either with charcoal or scratched in with a sharp-pointed instrument. To tattoo a person fully was therefore a work of time, and to attempt to do too much at once endangered life. I remember a poor _porangi_, or insane person, who, during the war, was tattooed most unmercifully by some young scoundrels; the poor man’s wounds were so dreadfully inflamed, as to occasion his death; whilst any one was being operated upon, all persons in the pa were tapu, until the termination of the work, lest any evil should befall him; to have fine tattooed faces, was the great ambition of young men, both to render themselves attractive to the ladies, and conspicuous in war: for even if killed by the enemy, whilst the heads of the untattooed were treated with indignity and kicked on one side, those which were conspicuous by their beautiful moko, were carefully cut off, stuck on the _turuturu_, a pole with a cross on it, and then preserved; all which was highly gratifying to the survivors, and the spirits of their late possessors. The person operated upon was stretched all his length on the ground, and to encourage him manfully to endure the pain, songs were continually sung to him. COLORS AND METHODS OF APPLICATION. IN THE UNITED STATES. Since the establishment of traders’ stores most colors of civilized manufacture are obtained by the Indians for painting and decoration. Frequently, however, the primitive colors are prepared and used when Indians are absent from localities where those may be obtained. The ferruginous clays of various shade of brown, red, and yellow, occur so widely distributed in nature that these are the most common and leading tints. Black is generally prepared by grinding fragments of charcoal into a very fine powder. Among some tribes, as has been found in some of the “ancient” pottery from the Arizona ruins, clay had evidently been mixed with charcoal to give better body. The black color of some of the Innuit tribes is blood and charcoal intimately mixed, which is afterwards applied to the incisions made in ivory, bone, and wood.