The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-04-23

of the painful process, l will here give
a brief account of it,
We were in the first place securaiy
bound down to the ground, ana there
held fast by our tormentors. They then
proceeded to draw with a sharp stick
the figures designed to be imprinted
on the skin. This done, the skin was
thickly punctured with a little instru-
ment made of sharpened fish bones,
and somewhat resembling a carpen-
ter's ADJ in miniature, but having
teeth, instead of a smooth, sharp edge.
This instrument was held within an
inch or two of the flesh, and struck
into it rapidly with a piece of wood,
applied in such a manner as to cause
it to rebound at very stroke. In this
way our breasts and arms were pre-
pared; and subsequently the ink, which
was made of a vegetable found on the
island and called by them the say
van" was applied. The operation caus-
ed such an Inflammation of our bodies
that only a portion could be done at
one time; and as soon as the infiam-
nation abated another portion was
done, as fast as we could bear it, till
our bodies We're covered. 1t was eff
fectually done; for to this day the fig
ures remain as distinct as they We're
first imprinted, and the marks will be
carried by us to the grave They We're
exceedingly anxious to perform the
I
would not submit to- telling them that
sooner than have it done we would die
in resisting them. Among themselves,
the oldest people had the greatest
quantity of tattooing, and the younger
class less.
Besides the operation of tattooing,
/ they compelled us to pluck the hair
from different parts of cur body. and
to pluck our boards about every ten
days, which was extremely painful
and at every successive operation the
beard grew harder and SITTER.
! About seventeen days after the cap
! tain and Rollins left we saw a vessel
to the windward but the natives did
| not attempt to visit it. Five months
afterwards another came in sight, and
remained for three days near the ISL
and At one time we could distinctly
! see the men on board; but we were
kept on shore and closely guarded.
! Several canoes visited the ship and
! brought back a few pieces of iron
| fshhooks, glass bottles, etc We tried,
! but in vain, to escape It seemed to
us that we We're doomed to remain on
that dreary spot, to wear out our re-
naming strength in hopeless bondage,
and to submit to the control of brutal
masters, whose tender mercies were
cruelties. Death, in any form, would
have been relief, and often did we
, see moments when it would have been
| welcomed as the best of friendsi To
! some Of our companions 1t did come.
though dreadful in the manner yet as
a not unwelcome alternative.
About year after we first arrived
at the island, William Sedon became
so reduced as to deprive US OF all
/ hopes of his recovery. He looked like
/ a skeleton; and, at last, was so en-
! tirely exhausted by hunger, as to be
unable to walk or even to rise from
hp q -
crawl from place to place, until all his
remaining strength was nearly gone,
when the inhuman monsters placed
him in an old canoe, and sent him
adrift on the ocean. Gladly would his
unhappy shipmates have extended to
him the last sad offices or friendship;
that poor consolation was denied both
him and us. My heart bleeds at the
recollection of our separation and his
melancholy fate-when we saw him
anxiously turn his languid eyes to-
ward those who We're doomed still to
linger on the borders of the grave. Our
signs were breathed almost in silence
and our tears were shed in vain
1t may be observed here that it is
not their custom to deposit the bodies
/ of any of their dead in the earth, ex-
cept very young children. The bodies
OF grown people, after death, are laid
! in canoe and committed TO the ocean.
| 1t was soon our lot to part with an
other of our companions, Peter An
drews. He was accused by the natives
OF some trif1ing offense and put to
death. The savages knocked him down
with their clubs, and then dispatched
him in the most cruel and most shock
ing manner. I was at this time at a
distance from the place where he was
killed. NY master was absent: and
upon my hearing noise in the direc-
ton of the place where the foul bust
ness was transacted, and suspecrine
that all was not right, started to see
what was going on. I was near the
beach when I saw number of savages
coming toward the spot where I stood