LIFE HISTORY OF A SAVAGE, 787 
lasted long, and some new cause of offence would revive all the old, 
bad feelings. When one town decided to fight again, they would 
often send a notice to that effect, and the others would meet them 
at the boundary between the two villages ; and Tepang, of course, 
had to be present, for all must go. 
He and his people fought with sling and stones, spears, and 
tomahawks, and in later days with the white man’s musket. There 
was never much execution done in these fights. If one man on 
either side got speared, that was considered quite enough for that 
day, and both sides would disperse. After this there was but 
little to do except to guard against surprises, for the war assumed 
a chronic state, and each side simply tried to surprise some unfor- 
tunate individual when off his guard. Before Tepang went to any 
of these fights he had to bathe and offer prayers to the spirits, 
asking them to make the tomakawk sharp and the spear good. 
When he got to the boundary he, as a man of knowledge, had to 
taunt his adversaries with all the foul language he could hurl at 
them, and as he knew a good deal of bad language he could do 
this pretty effectively. Then he knew many poisonous plants, and 
also a poison which he obtained from the sea, probably from some 
sea anemone, and with these he anointed his spear, and also those 
of his friends, to make them more deadly ; but as I have said, not 
many people were killed in fair and open fight. 
Peace-making, however, was a very complicated matter, and 
many ceremonies were observed. When Tepang and his friends 
desired to make peace with those with whom they were at enmity, 
they first sent a draccena plant as a sign of their wish. If the 
other chief was favourable he accepted the dracena and planted it 
in his ground. Then he pulled up one from his own ground and 
returned it by the messenger. After this, negotiations were 
entered into and a day fixed for the settlement. On the appointed 
day Tepang and his people assembled on one side of the appointed 
place and the other chief and his party occupied a position opposite 
to them. All were armed as if for fight, and at a given signal 
they advanced, brandishing their spears and shouting defiance to 
each other. Then they rushed madly against each other with 
spears poised ; but as they met each man turned his spear aside and 
turned his shoulder to his opponent, and they bumped together. 
This was done several times, first one side and then the other 
‘being the challenging party. After each bumping, small pieces 
of diwara were interchanged. Then Tepang made a speech, in 
which he laid all the blame of the wrongs which had been done 
on some member of his village, and assured his opponents that the 
evil was committed without his consent. The other chief replied 
in a similar manner, laying all the blame on someone who was 
dead. Then Tepang and his people tied a lot of money on a large 
branch of a tree and cried out, “ This is for So-and So,” mentioning 
