480 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
I never had an opportunity of attending one of their 
national councils when the question of war was debated, 
under all the imposing influence imparted by their my¬ 
thology, whereby they imagined the contention between 
the gods of the rivals was as great as that sustained by 
the parties themselves. A number of the figures and 
expressions used on these occasions are familiar, but, 
detached and translated, they lose their force. From 
what I have beheld in their public speeches, in force of 
sentiment, beauty of metaphor^ and effect of action, I 
can imagine that the impression of an eloquent harangue, 
delivered by an ardent warrior, armed perhaps for com¬ 
bat, and aided by the influence of highly excited feeling, 
could produce no ordinary effect; and I have repeatedly 
heard Mr. Nott declare, (and no one can better appre¬ 
ciate native eloquence,) he would at any time go thirty 
miles to listen to an address impassioned as those he 
has sometimes heard on these occasions. 
When war was determined, the king's vea^ or herald, 
was sent round the island, or through the districts de¬ 
pendent on the parties, and all were required to arm, and 
repair to the appointed rendezvous. Sometimes the king's 
flag was carried round. The women, the children, and 
the aged, called the oAwa, were either left in the village, or 
lodged in some place of security, and the men hastened 
to the field. 
Their arms were kept with great care, in high preserva^ 
tion. In some of the houses, on our arrival in the Lee¬ 
ward Islands, especially in the dwelling of Fenuapeho, 
the chief of Tahaa, every kind of weapon was in such 
order, and so carefully fixed against the sides of the house, 
that the dwelling appeared more like an armoury than a 
domestic abode. Many a one, whom the summons from 
