The practice of adorning the body with indelible drawings by introducing a coloring matter under the epidermis was first transcribed in English under the word 'tattow' in 1769 by J. Cook. It takes its name from the Tahitian 'tatau' of 'ta' which means 'to hit'. The tattoo artists used a paddle-shaped hammer to hit and combs of different widths according to the drawings. The color came from the smoke of the candle nut's almond (ti'a'iri ').