The World of Waters, Or, A Peaceful Progress O'er the Unpathed SeaOsborne, David, Mrs. (Fanny)
General
The World of Waters, Or, A Peaceful Progress O'er the Unpathed Sea
Osborne, David, Mrs. (Fanny)
Geography -- Juvenile literature; Voyages and travels -- Juvenile literature
MR. WILTON. "The art of tattooing has been brought to such
perfection here, that it actually excites admiration. It is looked
upon as answering the same purposes as clothes. When a chief throws
off his mats, he seems as proud of displaying the beautiful
ornaments figured on his skin, as a civilized dandy does of his
fashionable attire. Mr. Earle speaks of a man named Aranghie, a
professor of the art of tattooing, thus:--'He was considered by his
countrymen a perfect master in the art, and men of the highest rank
and importance were in the habit of travelling long journeys, in
order to put their skins under his skilful hands. Indeed, so highly
were his works esteemed, that I have seen many of his drawings
exhibited even after death. A neighbor of mine very lately killed a
chief who had been tattooed by Aranghie, and appreciating the
artist's work so highly, he skinned the chieftain's thighs, and
covered his cartouch box with it!--I was astonished to see with what
boldness and precision Aranghie drew his designs upon the skin, and
what beautiful ornaments he produced: no rule and compasses could be
more exact than the lines and circles he formed. So unrivalled is he
in his profession, that a highly finished face of a chief from the
hands of this artist, is as greatly prized in New Zealand as a head
from the pencil of Sir Thomas Lawrence is amongst us. Such respect
was paid to this man by the natives, that Mr. Earle expresses the
gratification he felt, on seeing the fine arts held in such
estimation by the savages."
MR. BARRAUD. "I do not doubt but the New Zealanders are still
cannibals in heart; for, so late as 1832, when Mr. Earle was there,
he unfortunately had ocular proof of the fact. He had been residing
with them some months, when a chief claimed one of his (Mr. Earle's)
servants, stating she was a runaway slave. He tied her to a tree and
shot her through the heart, and his men prepared an oven and cooked
her. Mr. Earle heard of it, and hastened to the spot. He caught them
in the act of preparing some of the poor girl's flesh, and
endeavored, in vain, to prevent the horrible feast; but to no
purpose; for they assembled at night and devoured every morsel
except the head, which he saw a hungry dog run off with to the
woods. The poor girl was only sixteen years of age, pretty and
well-behaved, and her murderer was one of the aristocracy of New
Zealand, and, as Mr. Earle observes, a remarkably polite savage."
CHARLES. "We must bid adieu to these interesting savages, and pass
on to the last, but certainly not the least, of the Pacific
islands.--viz. Australia."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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