POPULATION. 
163 
gunwale, or any ornament. A number of war- 
canoes are always kept in readiness, in case of a 
sudden call to arms : but upon any grand expe- 
dition they are prepared with the greatest nicety 
and caution; and every ornament, that can be 
crowded upon them without detriment, is lavishly 
employed. I far prefer the New-Zealand, to the 
Friendly-Island canoes : the latter, having two 
lashed together, are far too unwieldy ; and, when 
at sea, are unmanageable. They are decked; 
have houses erected upon them; and carry be- 
tween three and four hundred people, besides 
provisions for this number for several days at 
sea. I think I have heard them say, that, with 
their means, it requires sixty men to raise the 
mast, when they wish to set sail. A fleet of these 
canoes, consisting of eight or ten, is a very im- 
posing sight ; and a fleet of a hundred New-Zea- 
land vessels is a dreadful one, inspiring, from the 
shouts of the warriors, whilst paddling along, the 
utmost terror into the minds of those whom they 
are about to attack. None can view unmoved a 
hundred of these canoes in action ; particularly 
when it is considered that they are never brought 
together in such numbers, but with the intention 
of mischief. 
There are, comparatively, but few old people 
in New Zealand ; — scarcely any who have much 
exceeded fifty years of age. War, accidents, dis- 
eases, have made sad havoc amongst them ; and 
the population, in the neighbourhood of the Bay 
