WARFAEE OF THE ABORIGINES. 107 



which readily broke off. They were supposed by the Spaniards to be 

 deadly poisonous. The wounds inflicted by them often caused death; 

 but, as in the case of the weapons of natives of other Pacific islands 

 reputed to be poisonous, it is probable that their virtue was attributed 

 by the natives to some supernatural influence of the dead man from 

 whose body the bones were taken, and the frequent deaths were due 

 to lockjaw or blood poisoning from natural causes. The sling stones 

 were of oval shape, fashioned out of stone or made of some sort of 

 clay and baked. (PI. XVII.) These were thrown with remarkable 

 force and precision, as far, states one observer, as an arquebus can 

 shoot, and with such swiftness as to embed themselves in the trunks 

 of trees. The natives practiced with these weapons from their earliest 

 childhood and consequently became very skillful in their use. 



They carried on a primitive kind of warfare, "being easily roused 

 and easily quieted, slow to attack and quick to flee." A village 

 would prepare for war with another village with great bustle but 

 without a leader or any sort of organization or discipline. After war 

 had been declared the two parties would often be two or three da}^s in 

 the field without making an attack, each watching the movements of 

 the other. After engaging they very soon made peace; for a party 

 considered itself vanquished if one or two or three of its men were 

 killed, and ambassadors were sent to the other with offerings of 

 tortoise shell, which was the sign of surrender. The victors would 

 then celebrate their victory with satirical songs, vaunting their valor 

 and scoffing at the vanquished. In their fights with the Spaniards 

 they sometimes resorted to fire, burning the vegetation adjacent to 

 the fort of the enemy and hurling flaming darts upon the thatched 

 roofs of their buildings. They often selected inaccessible places for 

 their villages for the sake of security, and in wars with the Spaniards 

 constructed trenches in which they protected themselves, carrying 

 with them the sacred skulls of their ancestors to counteract the power 

 of the crucifixes of their opponents. They also strewed the roads and 

 passes with sharp spines (puas) to serve as caltrops. The use of these 

 and the manner of constructing intrenchments they may have learned 

 from the Spaniards themselves. 



SPOKTS. One of their favorite sports was sailing in their wonder- 

 ful canoes, wives accompanying their husbands and vying with them 

 in swimming and diving. As already noted, they were fond of gayety 

 and festivities and took great delight in jokes and buffoonery. The 

 men united together to dance and had contests of spear throwing, run- 

 ning, jumping, wrestling, and exercising their strength in various 

 ways. In the midst of their sports they would recount with great 

 peals of laughter their myths and fables and refresh themselves and 

 their guests with cakes made of rice, fish, fruits, and a kind of gruel 



