Contracts for the sale of heads of men still living are said to have been entered into between chiefs and traders, and the heads to have been duly delivered "as per agreement." Hitherto hung up as trophies of victory in the _pas_, these relics of battle were quickly turned to account, at first for iron, then for muskets, powder, and lead.

When the natural supply of heads of slain enemies ran short, slaves, who had hitherto never been allowed the aristocratic privilege and dignity of being tattooed, had their faces prepared for the market.

Sometimes, it is recorded, a slave, after months of painful preparation, had the audacity to run away with his own head before the day of sale and decapitation.

Astute vendors occasionally tried the more merciful plan of tattooing "plain" heads after death in ordinary course of battle.

But this was a species of fraud, as the lines soon became indistinct.