Peter Martyr (b) says of the Ciguaner Indians:
The natives came out of the forest painted and daubed with spots. For it is their custom, when they go to war, to daub themselves from the face to the knee with black and scarlet or purple color in spots, which color they [obtain] from some curious fruits resembling “Pyren,” which they plant and cultivate in their gardens with the greatest care. Similarly they also cause the hair to grow in a thousand very curious shapes, if it is not by nature long or black enough, so that they look not otherwise than if the similar devil or hellish Circe came running out of hell.
Curr (c) tells that the Australians whitened themselves with white clay when about to engage in war. Some African tribes, according to Du Chaillu, also paint their faces white for war.
Haddon (c) says of the western tribe of Torres straits:
When going to fight the men painted their bodies red, either entirely so or partially, perhaps only the upper portion of the body and the legs below the knees, or the head and upper part of the body only. The body was painted black all over by those who were actually engaged in the death dance.
Du Chaillu (c) tells that among the Scandinavians there were peace and war shields, the former white and the latter red. When the white was hoisted on a ship it was a sign for the cessation of hostility, in the same manner that a flag of the same color is now used to procure or mark a truce. The red shield displayed on a masthead or in the midst of a body of men was the sign of hostility.
COLOR DESIGNATING SOCIAL STATUS.
The following extract is translated, from Peter Martyr (c):
For the men are in body long and straight, possess a vivid and natural complexion which compares somewhat with a red and genuine flesh color. Their whole body and skin is lined over with sundry paints and curious figures, which they consider as a handsome ornament and fine decoration, and the uglier a man’s painting or lining over is the prettier he considers himself to be, and is also regarded as the most noble among their number.
Mr. Dorsey reports of the Osages that all the old men who have been distinguished in war are painted with the decorations of their respective gentes. That of the Tsicu wactake is as follows: The face is first whitened all over with white clay; then a red spot is made on the forehead and the lower part of the face is reddened; then with the fingers the man scrapes off the white clay, forming the dark figures by letting the natural color of the face show through.