- description
- # Others excelled in _tattooing_ or _pricking_, as it is called in a man-of-war.
## Overview
This section, titled "Others excelled in _tattooing_ or _pricking_, as it is called in a man-of-war," details the practice of tattooing among sailors. It was extracted on January 30, 2026, by a structure extraction process.
## Context
This section is part of [CHAPTER XLII. KILLING TIME IN A MAN-OF-WAR IN HARBOUR.](arke:01KG8AJS2XNNYG8VJ0DMZ113C3) and is extracted from the plain text file [white_jacket.txt](arke:01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY). Both the section and the file are part of the larger [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. It follows an [Introduction](arke:01KG8AKV4ZF8EWWGYYZHBB3R91) that discusses other ways sailors passed time, and precedes a section on [cleaning and polishing bright-work](arke:01KG8AKV4ZQ4M6CRV6XD7Q9ZY9).
## Contents
The section describes the skill of "prickers" or tattoo artists on board a man-of-war, noting their specialized tools, high fees, and the variety of designs they offered, such as palm-trees, anchors, crucifixes, ladies, lions, and eagles. It highlights the motivations for getting tattooed, including Roman Catholic sailors seeking a "decent burial in consecrated ground" in Catholic lands by having a crucifix pricked on their arms, and a superstition among other sailors that crucifix tattoos on all four limbs could protect them from shark attacks. The section also features an anecdote about a fore-top-man who had an "endless cable" tattooed around his waist over the entire cruise, illustrating the dedication and cost involved in such extensive body art.
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- Others excelled in _tattooing_ or _pricking_, as it is called in a man-of-war.
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- text
- Others excelled in _tattooing_ or _pricking_, as it is called in a
man-of-war. Of these prickers, two had long been celebrated, in their
way, as consummate masters of the art. Each had a small box full of
tools and colouring matter; and they charged so high for their
services, that at the end of the cruise they were supposed to have
cleared upward of four hundred dollars. They would _prick_ you to order
a palm-tree, or an anchor, a crucifix, a lady, a lion, an eagle, or
anything else you might want.
The Roman Catholic sailors on board had at least the crucifix pricked
on their arms, and for this reason: If they chanced to die in a
Catholic land, they would be sure of a decent burial in consecrated
ground, as the priest would be sure to observe the symbol of Mother
Church on their persons. They would not fare as Protestant sailors
dying in Callao, who are shoved under the sands of St. Lorenzo, a
solitary, volcanic island in the harbour, overrun with reptiles, their
heretical bodies not being permitted to repose in the more genial loam
of Lima.
And many sailors not Catholics were anxious to have the crucifix
painted on them, owing to a curious superstition of theirs. They
affirm—some of them—that if you have that mark tattooed upon all four
limbs, you might fall overboard among seven hundred and seventy-five
thousand white sharks, all dinnerless, and not one of them would so
much as dare to smell at your little finger.
We had one fore-top-man on board, who, during the entire cruise, was
having an endless cable _pricked_ round and round his waist, so that,
when his frock was off, he looked like a capstan with a hawser coiled
round about it. This fore-top-man paid eighteen pence per link for the
cable, besides being on the smart the whole cruise, suffering the
effects of his repeated puncturings; so he paid very dear for his
cable.
- title
- Others excelled in _tattooing_ or _pricking_, as it is called in a man-of-war.