CHAP. VIII. J MODES OF WARFARE. 125 



The former modes of carrying on warfare have 

 now been almost entirely changed by the introduc- 

 tion of fire-arms. Single combats with the meri or 

 the patiti (stone-club, or tomahawk), to decide a 

 dispute, were formerly frequent, but are now dis- 

 continued. A war is generally announced to the 

 opposite party beforehand, but sometimes it is car- 

 ried on by surprise. The young men of the tribe, 

 with the slaves and women carrying provisions, 

 approach the stronghold of the enemy, generally at 

 daybreak, when they hope to find their adversaries 

 unprepared ; but the watchful dogs often frustrate 

 their designs, and they are either met in open field 

 by their antagonists, or, if the latter feel themselves 

 too weak for such an encounter, a long siege ensues, 

 which often lasts for several months ; and woe to 

 the inmates of a pa if it is taken. In meeting in 

 the open field, the action begins with a dance, in 

 which all manner of distortions of the body are em- 

 ployed to express defiance of the enemy ; the thighs 

 are beaten, the tongue thrust out, and the eyes drawn 

 up, till only the white is visible : by these means 

 and by mimic song they excite themselves to the 

 height of fury. The chief leads his troop ; he car- 

 ries a sort of staff with a carved point, and orna- 

 mented with parrot-feathers and pieces of dog-skin ; 

 besides this he has a " meri," a war-club made of 

 green jade, pierced at the handle, through which a 

 string passes. With the lower end of the staff they 

 fence skilfully. Old women dance in front of the 



