CONSULTING THE ORACLE. 91 
to fly over the heads of those who are settling the 
affairs of war, is a certain assurance of success in 
whatever they undertake. For a dove to coo, at 
the moment when a man-child is born, is a pro- 
gnostication that by him some great things are to 
be brought about, &c. 
With respect to consulting the oracles, I am 
not aware that it is ever resorted to, but in cases 
where several tribes have joined together for 
the purpose of making an excursion against some 
distant tribes, with whom they are at enmity. 
The youngest son in a family, where all are come 
to years of maturity, is the person called upon 
to make the experiment. He selects a spot, well 
sheltered from the wind; and clears it from fern, 
weeds, and vegetation, about six feet square; 
after which he carefully selects a number of sticks, 
of equal size, answering to the number of the 
tribes, on either side, likely to be engaged in the 
war. When the heavens are perfectly calm, and 
not a breath of wind stirring, he plaees these sticks 
in an exactly perpendicular position, and in two 
rows, to represent the contending parties, drawn 
out in battle array. He gives the name of a 
tribe to each of the sticks : “ This is the Ngai te 
waki ; that, the Nga ti rahairi; this is the Uri 
kapana ; and this, the Nga te tau tahi.” When he 
has completed his arrangements, he mutters a 
number of sentences over the whole ; and retires to 
a distance, to watch the effect of the rising of the 
wind upon his soldiers. Should the wind come in 
