Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-06-03
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TArToOINn In BtIRNAn.
A Tedious Process Eadurcd by th'
Help OF Opium.

A Tedious Process endured by tfae
Help OF Opium.
Pho Myin, the subject, is lying on q
mat. quite nude with i dazed look ia his
half-closed eyes and breathing heavily
Moung Daw mods at him meaningly. ''He
has taken much opiun,'' he says, grim
ming at me. / am-not surprised at it. II
the Htok winsayahgyes was going to ex-
ercise his are upon me Tor four or five
hours, sho uld follow the Burmau's
plan and take opium by way Of an aiises-
thetic. The tattcoing will show well on
the plump, fair skinned lad before us,
and the professor evidently thinks he is
subject to take pains with, as he sits
carefully mixing his ink in a joint Of
bamboo and preparing his weapon. This
is brass rod nearly two feet long and
about an inch thick it is weighted at tho
top with an ornamental figure. and at the
other end it has q hollow point divided
by two cross Sits into four fine points.
The Professor examines the business
end" critically; and, having satisfied
himself that 1t Is sharp enough, tucks up
his putsoe and squats at Pho Myin's
side. Selecting q spot on the thigh, he
places both feet on it q few inches apart,
and stretching the skin tight, draws the
Outline Of the first fgure--a tiger ram
pant-with an inky splinter Of bamboo !;
this is soon done, and relieving himself
Of large mouthful Of betelnut, the pro-
lessor settles down to work in earnest.
Leaning forward through his widely
parted knees, he balances the brass style
daintily. and, clasping it with the finger
and thumb of the right hand, makes a
bridge on the left, which he rests on
the surface between his feet. After
sliding the instrument through his
fingers once or twice, as if to take
aim, he makes q start and pricks
away steadily with u light firm touch
that is wonderfully quick and trus.s In
less than five minutes the tiger, with its
surrounding border, is finished, and the
artist removed his feet from the dis
tended skin and washes off the superhu-
Gus ink to see how his work has come
out. Everybody presses forward to look
at the picture, which shows up In bold
relief on the rapidly formed swelling.
Mong Salk exchanges a remark with his
wife, and the tattooer resumes his work
ing position to draw the outline OF the
next figure. The boy, stupefied with
opium, lies insensible to pain, while one
figure after another gradually appears on
his skin.
Deep rs the points Of the style sink
they draw little blood, but the limb
swells in q manner that would alarm any
one who did not know it would return to
its normal size in day or two. Fever
sometimes supervenes, and in that case
the patient waits for a time before the
work of illustration is resumed, SO it
often extends over the period of O week
or ten days. during which the moon
venience suffered is considerable. With
out the aid of opium the process would
be much longer one.
found that I could not endure the APP
plication of the style for more
than thirty consecutive seconds
without finching SO much as to
interfere with the operators movements
for the skin is pricked over SO closely
that it becomes too tender to sustain their
repetition. Eight rupees is the usual fee
paid to a tattooer for endowing lad
with breaches. The figures that compose
them vary little, consisting, as rule, Of
tigers, "nagas" (dragoons), and "bsloos'
(devils). Each one is surrounded with a
border of sentences, generally illegible,
invoking good luck upon the owner oil
the skin wherein they are inscribed
The waist and knees are neatly finished
off with a tasteful edging of point OF
scroll pattern; these sensitive parts OIL
the body are the last to be done, and tat
tooers have told me that the pain caused
frequently arouses the patient from his
stupor.