1835.] THE NEW ZEALANDERS. 413 



tlie chief cannot order one party to go here and anotlier 

 there ; but every man fights in the manner which best pleases 

 himself; and to each separate individual to approach a 

 stockade defended by firearms must appear certain death. 

 I should think a more vvarHke race of inhabitants could not 

 be found in any part of the world than the New Zealanders. 

 Their conduct on first seeing a ship, as described by Captain 

 Cook, strongly illustrates this ; the act of throwing voHeys 

 of stones at so great and novel an object, and their defiance 

 of " Come on shore and we will kill and eat you all," shows 

 uncommon boldness. This warlike spirit Is evident in 

 many of their customs, and even in their smallest actions. 

 If a New Zealander is struck, although but In joke, the 

 blow must be returned ; and of this I saw an Instance with 

 one of our officers. 



At the present day, from the progress of civilisation, there 

 is much less warfare, except among some of the southern 

 tribes. I heard a characteristic anecdote of what took place 

 some time ago In the south. A missionary found a chief 

 and his tribe In preparation for war ; — their muskets clean 

 and bright, and their ammunition ready. He reasoned 

 long on the Inutility of the war, and the little provocation 

 which had been given for it. The chief was much shaken 

 in his resolution, and seemed in doubt ; but at length It 

 occurred to him that a barrel of his gunpowder was in a 

 bad state, and that It would not keep much longer. This 

 was brought forward as an unanswerable argument for the 

 necessity of immediately declaring war ; the Idea of allowing 

 so much good gunpowder to spoil was not to be thought of ; 

 and this settled the point. 1 was told by the missionaries 

 that in the life of Shongi, the chief who visited England, the 

 love of war was the one and lasting spring of every action. 

 The tribe in which he was a principal chief, had at one time 

 been much oppressed by another tribe, from the Thames 

 River. A solemn oath was taken by the men, that when their 

 boys should grow up, and they should be powerful enough, 

 they would never ioiget or forgive these injuries. To 

 fulfil this oath appears to have been Shongi's chief motive 

 for going to England ; and whon there it was his sole 

 object. Presents were valued only as they could be con- 

 verted into arms ; of the arts, those alone interested him 

 which were connected with the manufacture of arms. 

 When at Sydney, Shongi, by a strange coincidence, met 

 the hostile chief of the Thames River at the house of 



