Of course, if they were real tattoo marks there would be nothing for it; but as they are only dye, or paint of some sort, they must wear themselves out before very long." "I will try anything that he will give me.

I don't care if it takes the skin off." On returning to the quarters of Captain Cooke, Stanley was introduced to the other officers of the regiment; among them the doctor, to whom he at once applied for some means of taking off the dye.
"Have you asked the man you brought down with you ?" the surgeon said.

"You say that he put it on, and he may know of something that will take it off again." "No; I have asked him, and he knows of nothing.

He used some of the dye stuffs of the country, but he said he never heard of anyone wanting to take the dye out of things that had been coloured." "If it were only cotton or cloth," the doctor said, "I have no doubt a very strong solution of soda would take out the greater portion of the dye; but the human skin won't stand boiling water.
However, I should say that if you have water as hot as you can bear it, with plenty of soda and soap, it will do something for you.

No doubt, if you were to take a handful or two of very fine sand, it would help a great deal; but if you use that, I should not put any soda with the water, or you will practically take all the skin off, and leave your face like a raw beef steak; which will be worse than the stain and, indeed, in so hot a sun as we have, might be dangerous, and bring on erysipelas.