192 PRIMITIVE AGRICULTURAL RACES 



33. Warfare occurs everywhere in Oceania ; ^ apparently there 

 is not a single case in which it is definitely recorded to be absent. 

 In some islands it is as murderous as anywhere in America, 

 though on the whole it cannot be regarded as anything Hke such 

 an important cause of elimination as in that Continent. The 

 Maories were especially skilled in the art of war which ' carries 

 off a large number of their strongest men, and has often proved 

 so destructive to a tribe, that it has been broken up entirely and 

 has disappeared '.^ In the Murray Islands there is frequent 

 fighting and raiding of the neighbouring islands and coasts ; ^ 

 and the same is true of all the islands of the Torres Straits, though 

 it is commoner in the western than in the eastern islands.* ' A life 

 for a life ' is, we are told, the principle underlying warfare 

 among these people ; ^ in the Sandwich Islands elimination from 

 this cause must have been very considerable ; we hear, for 

 example, of ' the sanguinary character of their frequent wars '.^ 

 It is much the same in Tahiti ; ' their wars were merciless and 

 destructive ' ; ^ ' occasions of hostility were also at times remark- 

 ably trivial, though not so their consequences.' ^ War seems to 

 be equally frequent in Samoa, though possibly less murderous.^ 

 BroAvn believes that ' the wars of the Samoans tended for a long 

 time to check the natural increase of the population '.^" ' There 

 was never any difficulty in finding a reason, if a fight was desired 

 (in Rotuma), as any pretext could be seized.' ^^ Such fights were 

 sometimes followed by very considerable slaughter.^^ ' War, 

 either offensive or defensive, was their continual delight [in 

 Rarotonga]. A state of peace was rarely known to continue 

 long between the tribes. . . . These quarrels invariably led to 

 fighting, in which the warriors of each tribe engaged with the 

 utmost desperation and cruelty.' ^^ War was the favourite occupa- 

 tion of the Kingsmill Islanders,^'* and in the Pelew Islands it was 

 their ' daily concern '.^^ Warfare is said to have been especially 



I Moerenhaut, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 30, says that ' Tous ces peuples etaient tres 

 fiequemment en guerre'. ^ Dieffenbach, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 16; Tregear, 



J. A. I., vol. xix, p. 110. 3 Hunt, loc. cit., p. 10. * Cambridge Anthropo- 



logical Expedition, vol. iv, p. 6 ; vol. v, p. 229 ; and vol. vi, p. 189. ^ Ibid., 



vol. V, p. 298. ^ Ellis, Narrative, p. 4 ; Dumas, loc. cit., p. 19. ' Ellis, 



Polynesian Researches, p. 293 ; Lutteroth, loc. cit., p. 17. " Ellis, Polynesian 



Researches, p. 294. ' Turner, Samoa, p. 189 ; Pritchard, loc. cit., p. 55 ; 



Angas, Polynesia, p. 270. '" Brown, Melanesians, p. 173. " Gardiner, 



J. A. I., vol. xxvii, p. 470. ^- Ibid., p. 474. " Gill, Cm-al Islands, 



vol. ii, p. 12. " Jenkins, loc. cit., p. 407. " Kubary, Jourr^d des 



Museum Godejfroy, vol. i, p. 02 ; Wilson, Pelew Islands, p. 334. 



