DRESS AND ORNAMENTS OF THE NEW ZEALANDER -- THE TATTOO OR THE MOKO -- ITS FORMIDABLE CHARACTER -- THE TATTOO A MARK OF FREEDOM -- THE TATTOO OF THE FACE, AND ITS DIFFERENT PORTIONS -- COST OF THE OPERATION -- THE IMPLEMENTS, AND MODE OF USING THEM -- TIME OCCUPIED IN COMPLETING IT -- PAYMENT OF THE OPERATOR, AND THE TATTOO SONG -- SOURCE WHENCE THE PIGMENT IS OBTAINED -- SCARLET PAINT, AND MODE OF MAKING IT -- THE NEW ZEALAND BELT -- SYMBOLISM OF THE TATTOO -- PRESERVING THE HEADS OF WARRIORS -- THE TRAFFIC IN HEADS -- A COOL BARGAINER. We will now proceed to the appearance and dress of the natives of New Zealand, or Maories, as they term themselves. As the most conspicuous part of the New Zealander’s adornment is the tattooing with which the face and some other portions of the body are decorated, we will begin our account with a description of the moko, as it is called by the natives. There are many parts of the world where the tattoo is employed, but in none is it of so formidable a description as among the New Zealanders. As the reader is probably aware, the tattoo consists of patterns made by introducing certain coloring matters under the skin; charcoal, variously prepared, being the usual material for the purpose. We have already seen among the Kaffirs examples of ornamenting the skin by cutting it deeply so as to form scars, and in Australia a similar but more cruel custom prevails. In neither of these countries, however, is there any attempt at producing an artistic effect, while in New Zealand beauty of design is the very object of the tattoo. There is a distinction between the tattoo of the New Zealanders and the Polynesians; that of the latter people being formed by rows of little dots, and that of the former by lines cut completely through the skin. On account of this distinction, though a New Zealander and a Polynesian be covered from head to foot with tattoo marks, there is no possibility of mistaking the one for the other. The moko of the New Zealander is a mark of rank, none but slaves being without a more or less complete tattooing of the face. In the present day, even the chiefs have begun to discontinue the ancient custom, chiefly owing to the exertions of the missionaries, who objected to the practice as a mark of heathendom. Consequently, several of the most powerful convert chiefs present a very curious, not to say ludicrous, aspect, which can hardly have a good effect in recommending Christianity to the people. Having been converted before the moko was completed, and being unwilling to continue the process and unable to obliterate those portions which were already drawn, they appear with one half of their faces tattooed and the other half plain, or perhaps with a solitary ring round one eye, and a couple of curves round one side of the mouth.