502 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
of barter, they maintained a high price. Ten or twelve 
hogs, worth at least from one to two pounds a head, 
was, for a long time, the regular price of a musket; and 
one hundred pigs have been paid for a cannon. I have 
seen upwards of seventy tied up on the beach, at Fare 
as the price of a single old cannon, which had been pre¬ 
served from the wreck of an English vessel, at another 
island. These articles have, however, long ceased to be 
in demand among the Tahitians. 
It does not appear that their wars were more san¬ 
guinary and cruel when they fought at a distance with 
muskets, than when they grappled hand to hand with 
club and spear. The numbers killed might be greater, 
but fewer were wounded. Although familiar with the 
musket during their last wars, they are by no means 
expert marksmen; they understand little about taking 
aim, and often fire without placing the but-end of the 
musket against the shoulder, or presenting their piece* 
They grasp it in the most awkward manner, holding it 
above the head, or by the side, and in this singular posi¬ 
tion fire it off. I was once with a party of natives, when 
one of them fired at a bullock but a few yards distant, and 
missed it. 
War was seldom proclaimed or commenced with 
promptitude, being always considered as one of the most 
important matters in which the nation could engage. 
Hence the preparatory deliberations were frequent and 
protracted. 
The greatest importance was always attached to the 
will of the gods; if they were favourable, conquest was 
regarded as sure; but if they w^ere unfavourable, defeat, 
if not death, was as certain. Divination, or enchant¬ 
ment, was employed for the purpose of knowing their 
