258 
FIRE-ARMS. 
some rating it at 100,000, others at 80,000 ; perhaps the latter 
may be the nearest approximation to the truth. 
Relative to their wars also, we are apt to draw false conclu¬ 
sions, and to imagine that the contests of so fierce a people 
must necessarily have been very bloody ; but it must be remem¬ 
bered before fire-arms were introduced, the battle was chiefly a 
trial of skill and strength between the principal chiefs, and that 
the fall of one was often the signal of flight for his people; the 
slaves seldom taking any very active part, as oftentimes those 
their masters fought with, were their relatives. The battles of 
David and Goliah, Hector and Achilles, were much the same 
as theirs. 
Even when pas were taken, and tribes destroyed, many 
escaped who joined others, and thus the extinction of a tribe 
was in fact little more than the extinction of a name. 
When fire-arms were first introduced, they certainly occa¬ 
sioned for a time an increased destruction of life, and rendered 
their battles far more bloody. This was the case with those 
of Hongi and Raupara-ha; but it only continued until they 
became more common, and equally dispersed amongst them, 
and then they brought the reign of the hero, or demi-god, to 
a close, when the personal strength and prowess of the chief 
gave him no advantage in fight over the despised slave; and 
thus, now-a-days, the nobility of the land are decidedly less 
anxious for war, when they are as liable to be shot as their 
slaves ; they feel it does not add to their dignity, but may 
bring their dignity to an ignoble close. Therefore, the advan¬ 
tages of peace become more perceptible, and are a guarantee 
against future wars. 
The chiefs are now leading on their people to improvement, 
using their influence to raise funds for the erection of mills, 
and the increase of their property. 
A KO, OR NATIVE SPADE. 
