{"id":"01KG8AKV4ZZ0WFRQY0SF6GY61W","cid":"bafkreiaoumvix65asowe2gtgye6g74hkbqdb6pwukiqwrvwbnn2hflsvay","type":"section","properties":{"description":"# Others excelled in _tattooing_ or _pricking_, as it is called in a man-of-war.\n\n## Overview\nThis 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.\n\n## Context\nThis 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).\n\n## Contents\nThe 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.","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:49:49.468Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"Others excelled in _tattooing_ or _pricking_, as it is called in a man-of-war.","end_line":6548,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:16.646Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Others excelled in _tattooing_ or _pricking_, as it is called in a man-of-war.","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":6515,"text":"Others excelled in _tattooing_ or _pricking_, as it is called in a\r\nman-of-war. Of these prickers, two had long been celebrated, in their\r\nway, as consummate masters of the art. Each had a small box full of\r\ntools and colouring matter; and they charged so high for their\r\nservices, that at the end of the cruise they were supposed to have\r\ncleared upward of four hundred dollars. They would _prick_ you to order\r\na palm-tree, or an anchor, a crucifix, a lady, a lion, an eagle, or\r\nanything else you might want.\r\n\r\nThe Roman Catholic sailors on board had at least the crucifix pricked\r\non their arms, and for this reason: If they chanced to die in a\r\nCatholic land, they would be sure of a decent burial in consecrated\r\nground, as the priest would be sure to observe the symbol of Mother\r\nChurch on their persons. They would not fare as Protestant sailors\r\ndying in Callao, who are shoved under the sands of St. Lorenzo, a\r\nsolitary, volcanic island in the harbour, overrun with reptiles, their\r\nheretical bodies not being permitted to repose in the more genial loam\r\nof Lima.\r\n\r\nAnd many sailors not Catholics were anxious to have the crucifix\r\npainted on them, owing to a curious superstition of theirs. They\r\naffirm—some of them—that if you have that mark tattooed upon all four\r\nlimbs, you might fall overboard among seven hundred and seventy-five\r\nthousand white sharks, all dinnerless, and not one of them would so\r\nmuch as dare to smell at your little finger.\r\n\r\nWe had one fore-top-man on board, who, during the entire cruise, was\r\nhaving an endless cable _pricked_ round and round his waist, so that,\r\nwhen his frock was off, he looked like a capstan with a hawser coiled\r\nround about it. This fore-top-man paid eighteen pence per link for the\r\ncable, besides being on the smart the whole cruise, suffering the\r\neffects of his repeated puncturings; so he paid very dear for his\r\ncable.\r\n\r","title":"Others excelled in _tattooing_ or _pricking_, as it is called in a man-of-war."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJS2XNNYG8VJ0DMZ113C3","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKV4ZF8EWWGYYZHBB3R91","peer_type":"intro","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKV4ZQ4M6CRV6XD7Q9ZY9","peer_type":"section","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:17.567Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:49:49.736Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}