When some one expressed a doubt of his coming from Zululand he promptly rolled up his sleeve and showed on his right arm the brand of the tribe. The brand is just below the elbow-joint, and it is of a bright red color, showing conclusively that it had been burned into the flesh. The design is very much on the principle of a double heart with a cross running through the center. The same design has been branded over his left eye in a somewhat smaller shape. When questioned about these brands he said:
“In our country all the men have to have the brand of their tribe burned into their skin so that they can never desert us, and no matter where they are found, you can always tell a Zulu by the brand. Always look for it just over the left eye and on the inside of the right arm. Does it hurt? Oh, no: you see they just take the skin together in their fingers and when the brand is red hot touch it once to the skin and it is all done, and the brand can never wear away.”
SCARIFICATION.
The following notes regarding scarification are presented:
Edward M. Curr (b), p. 94, says:
The principal and most general ornament throughout Australia consists of a number of scars raised on the skin. They are made by deep incisions with a flint or shell, which are kept powdered with charcoal or ashes. The wounds thus made remain open for about three months, and, when covered with skin, scars sometimes almost as thick and long as one’s middle finger remain raised above the natural surface of the skin. The incisions are made in rows on various parts of the body, principally on the chest, back, and on the upper muscle of the arm, and less frequently on the thighs and stomach. The breasts of the female are often surrounded with smaller scars. In some tribes dots cut in the skin take the place of scars. The operation is a very painful one, and is often carried out amidst yells of torture. Both sexes are marked in this manner, but the male more extensively than the female.
In the same volume, p. 338, is the following:
When, as often happens, a young man and girl of the Whajook tribe in Australia elope and remain away from the tribe for a time, it is not unusual for them to scar each other in the interim as a memorial of their illicit loves; a singular proceeding when one remembers the agony caused by the operation and the length of time required to get over it. This proceeding is a great aggravation of the original offense in the eyes of husbands.
In Vol. II, p. 414, the same author says:
Men of the Cape river tribe scar their backs and shoulders in this way. Scars are made generally on the left thigh both of the men and women, continues Mr. Chatfield, but occasionally on the right, for the purpose of denoting the particular class to which they belong; but as such a practice would conflict with the custom prevalent throughout the continent as far as known, which is to make these marks for ornament alone, the statement cannot be received without further evidence.