The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-11-18
Tattooed By 9avaxoS.

the ship Angelica, which went ashor,
during severe gale On the Patagonia
coast. The vessel was manned by thirteen
men, all Of whom were captured by the
savages and taken into the interior. The
men were separated from each other and
given to different native chiefs as slaves.
! Mr.. Hewitt never knew what became OF
his shipmates. He was taken by savage
named Minehoo, and compelled to carry
heavy loads Of provisions and hunting
materials Oh long journeys. At night his
hands would be tied behind his back, and
one end OF the leathern thong was fastened
to tree, 80 that he could not run away.
No knife or shalp instrument Of any kind
was left within his reach, and he was as
eifectually prisoner as though he had
been locked up within strong walls. The
whole story of his troubles and sufferings
while in the hands Of the savages would
fill whole volume, but the most interest
ing portion, which can be confined to tho
limits or newspaper account, 10 his &C.
count of the manner In which he was tat
tooed by the Patagonians.
Almost the entire surface Of Mr.. Hewltt's
body is covered with indellible representa-
tions of beasts, birds and reptiles. Ho
said that tho savages occupied over q
months time In making these unique PFC
lures. A preparation in many respects re-
sombllng India ink, was used, and the
method of producing tho pictures was to
puncture tho skin with the points of small
fish bones, and then rub tho ink upon the
wound thus produced. The Ink thus pro-
duccd discoloration of tho skin that can
never Dc effaced.
"Whnt caused the Patagonians to mark
l., n.0N Al
or.
II presume, the chief who hold me cap
two wanted to distigurc me for the amuse-
ment Of himself and his associates" was
the reply.
lhen you do not think tho chief meant
to punish you2'
t. display the artistic skill Of one of his
dOubtedly regarded my skin IN much the
canvas. was good groundwork for Or
namentation."
"Was the chief proud of you after the
work was donc?"
''le was, indeed. l was taken about
ing eyes. The young men and maidens
look ut each other and smile.
Older savages would admire me by the
hour, and was one Of the greatest objects
Of interest in Patagonia" "
ado you know the meaning OF the pic
turcs7"
~ only know that the pictures represent
beasts, birds AMI reptiles; but why they
were selected as subjects, BATTLES my com
prchension. suppose that am a sort Of
Patagonian obelisk and although unlike the
Alexandrian monolith, / am not 5000 or
1000 years old, 1perhaps represent rclig-
ious ideas and historical facts"
The tattoocd man brushed his locks of
shaggy hair back from his forehead, and
disclosed o blue. -yellowish representa-
ton of bird. Although the bird has out
stretched wings and bcak and claws like
an eagle, 1t is far from being good repre-
sentation Of the glorious American bird of
freedom. On either side Of the mans face
is bird that looks moro like q young
chicken than anything else. Lengthwise
on the nose Is a tiny picture of a blue snake
with red eyes. A rcd snake with blue
eyes cncirclcs the mans neck. Rolling up
his sleeves and barring his arms, Mr.. Hewitt
exhibited pictorial representations of more
than a dozen different kinds of animals.
Some of them rcsembled goats, others
shorp and foxes. There were animals
with horns and others without horns
There was singular looking creature that
reminded. the reporter of centaur, above
the elbow of the right arm. There were
moro figures on the left arm than on the
right one. The total number of distinct
pictures on the mans body, he said, was
1873. Only thrco colors are shown-rcd,
blue and yellow. The inks were obtained
by pressing the juice from vegetables and
mixing 1t with fine earthly pigments. Mr..
Hewitt thinks that the inks were of q
poisonous nature, because they caused the
limbs to swell TO twice their normal size
while the pictures were being made.