WARS. 
223 
war, a favourable situation is selected by one of the 
parties, and notice is sent to the other, who then 
proceed to the place of meeting, where both draw 
out their forces in opposing parallel lines. Day- 
break, or nearly about sunset in the evening, are the 
times preferred for these engagements, as the 
softened light at those hours does not so much affect 
the eyesight, and the spears are more easily seen and 
avoided. Both parties are fully armed with spears, 
shields, and other weapons, and the fight sometimes 
lasts for three or four hours, during which scarcely a 
word is spoken, and but little noise of any kind is 
heard, excepting a shrill cry now and then, when some 
one is wounded or has a narrow escape. Many are 
injured generally on both sides, and some severely so; 
but it rarely happens that more than one or two are 
killed, though hundreds may have been engaged. 
The fights are sometimes witnessed by men who 
are not concerned in them, bv the women and the 
children. The presence of the females may be sup- 
posed probably to inspire the belligerents with 
courage and incite them to deeds of daring. 
The most dangerous and fatal affrays in which 
the natives engage are those which occur suddenly 
amongst tribes who have been encamped near one 
another on amicable terms, and between whom some 
cause of difference has arisen, probably in relation 
to their females, or some recent death, which it is 
imagined the sorcerers have been instrumental in 
producing. In the former case a kind of melee 
