MODE OF WARFARE. 821 
appear really necessary to us, yet remaining in- 
variably so modest, gentle, and friendly, that 
my company declared them to be, without ex- 
ception, the most amiable people on earth. 
Rarik took me to his house, to witness an- 
other dramatic representation: the subject was 
the war on Mediuro. Women sang, or rather 
screamed, the deeds of the warriors; and the 
men in their dances endeavoured, by angry 
gestures and brandishing their lances, to de- 
scribe the'valour of the combatants. I express- 
ed to Rarik my wish to know more of their 
method of warfare; he and Lagediak in conse- 
quence assembled two troops, which they op- 
posed to each other at a short distance, as 
hostile armies ; the first rank, in both, consist- 
ing of men, and the second of women. The 
former were armed with sticks instead of lances, 
the latter had their baskets filled with pandana 
seeds for stones, and their hair, instead of being 
as usual, tastefully bound up, hung dishevelled 
and wild about their heads, giving them the 
appearance of maniacs. Rarik placed himself 
at the head of ‘one troop, and Lagediak of the 
other: both gave the signal for attack, by blow- 
P 5 
