The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1876-08-19

a miracle OF art that the work should be
done so well, and the existence Of the
man himself a miracle in nature that a
man should live through il. Capt. Cos
tentenus is tall, dark cumpleXioned, OF
superb physique and about forty-hve
years Of age. He does not read English,
but converses tluently in his own tongue,
and in the Italian, Arab, Turkish and
Persian language, and speaks llttle
French and German, and few words OIL
English. The climate here affects him
SO that he keeps muff1ed in q coarse suit
lined with fur, with q soft round Gap
pulled down over his forehead, and a
thick pair OF gloves on his hands.
His heavy beard only partially con-
ceals the tattooing on his weather-beat-
en- face. Costentenus' early history is
| that of many Albanians. He had al.
ways been soldier of fortune. In 1857
he and eleven others penetrated Chinese
Tartary and sided with the rebels. The
party was captured, two or three were
killed, and the rest were submitted to an
ordeal of tattooing which only two sur
| ViVed--Capt. Costentenus and Span
lard, who has since died. The operation
lasted three months and was performed
daily. Six men held him down while a
seventh welded the tattoolng appara-
tus.
At the conclusion of the operation he
regained his health and was freed by
the Tartars. instead of making his escape
as was reported. This tattooing was
done to warn outside barbarlans OF the
danger of penetrating the Tartar do
mains. Nothing like the Captains person
has ever been seen in civilized countries.
By the side Of his gorgeously embel-
lished cuticle the tattooing of South Sea
Islanders fades into inslgniticanoe. The
material used was indigo and cinnibar,
the former producing a black and the
latter a red.
At a first glance the Captains bod y
seems to be covered with q Turkish
| shawl, but closer examination shows
that the pictures in two cOlors are pro-
duced by unnumbered points. On his
| forehead are animals and inscriptions,
and on the face star-like figures. On
tho hands are numerous red points, and
figures resembling sculptures, as we'll
as long-tailed, panther-like shapes. The
ears are abs olutely the only part OF the
body free from tattooing, even the scalI
being embellished. On the neck, chest
abdomen, back and eXtremities the skin
is a mass of symmstrically arranged and
admirably executed figures Of monkeys
| tigers, lions, elephants, peaoocks, ,storks
swans, snakes, crocodlles, lizards, min
gled with bows, arrows, leaves, flowers
and fruits. Between the figures are
words In Berminian in blue and req let
ters, and simple points or stars and cir
cles. The original skin IS invisible. On
the palms of the hands are indescrlbable
figures, and little figures are on the In,
side OF the fingers. On the back sides Of
| both feet to the toes are blue points, and
from the toes to the nails are red lines
| Altogether there are three hundred and
eighly.eight tattooed pictures on the
entire body-on the forehead two, neck
eight, chest fifty, back thirty-seYen, alb
domen titty-two, upper extremities one
hundred and one, lower extremities ON
hundred and thirty-seYen; yet the Cap
tain is in perfect health.