Husbandry and Weapons of N. Zealand, 35 
ftrument is nothing more than a long narrow flake lharpened 
to an edge at one end, with a Ihort piece faftened tranfverfely 
'at a little diftance above it, for the convenience of prefling it 
down with the foot. With this they turn up pieces of ground 
iix or feven acres in extent, though it is not more than three 
inches broad ; but as the foil is light and fandy it makes little 
refiflance. 
Tillage, weaving, and theother arts of peace, leem to ba beft 
known and moft pradlifed in the northern part of this country ; 
for there is little appearance of any of them in the South : but 
the arts of war flourifh equally through the whole coaft. 
Of weapons they have no great variety, but fuch as they 
have are well fitted for deftrudtion ; they hare fpears, darts, 
battle-axes, and the Patoo-Patoo. The fpear is fourteen or 
fifteen feet long, pointed at both ends, and fometimes headed 
with bone : thefe are grafped by the middle, fo that the part 
behind balancing that before, makes a pulh more difficult to 
be parried, than that of a weapon which is held by the end.. 
The dart and other weapons have been fufficientlydefcribed al- 
ready ; and it has alfo been remarked, that thefe people have 
neither fling nor bow. They throw the dart by hand, and fo 
they do ftones ; but darts and ftones are feldom ufed, except in 
defending their forts. Their battles, whether in boats or on 
Ihore, are generally hand to hand, and the daughter muft con- 
lequently be great, as a fecond blow with any of their wea* 
pons is unnecefiary, if the firft takes place : their truft, how- 
ever, feems to be^principally placed in the Patoo-Patoo, which 
is faftened to their wrifts by a flrong Trap, left it fhould be 
wrenched from them, and which the principal people generally 
wear flicking in their girdles, confidering it as a military or- 
nament, and part of their drefs, like the poinard of the Afia • 
tic, and the fword of the European. They have no defenflve 
armour ; but, befides their weapons, the Chiefs carried a ftaff 
of diftin&ion, in the fame manner as our officers do the fpon- 
toon : this was generally the rib of a whale, as white as fnow, 
with many ornaments of carved work, dog’s hair, and feathers ; 
but fometimes it was a flick, about fix feet long, adorned in 
the fame manner, and inlaid with a fhell like mother-of-pearl. 
Thofe who bore this mark of diftimftion were generally old, 
at leaft pall the middle age, and were alfo more marked with 
the Amoco than the reft. 
One or more perfons, thus diltinguifhed, always appeared 
in each canoe; when they came to attack us, according to the 
li-ze of it. When they came within about a cable’s length of 
the fhip, they ufed to flop, and the Chiefs Tiling from their 
feat, put on a drefs which feemed appropriated to the occafion, 
generally of dog’s fkin, and holding out their decorated ftaff, 
or a vysapon, directed the reft of the people what they fhould 
