156 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
considered the strongest section. The chief who 
commanded was in the centre. 
Their weapons consisted of the pololu , a spear 
made of hard wood, from sixteen to twenty feet 
long, and pointed at one end. The ike , or javelin, 
about six feet in length, made of a species of hard 
red wood, resembling mahogany, called kauira, 
pointed and barbed. The raau parau , a weapon 
eight or nine feet long, between a club and spear, 
somewhat resembling a halbert, with which they 
were accustomed to thrust or strike, and the pahoa , 
or dagger, eighteen inches or two feet in length, 
made of hard wood, sometimes pointed at both 
ends, and having a string attached to the handle, 
which passed round the wrist, to prevent their 
losing it in action. Besides these, they employed 
the sling, and their stones were very destructive. 
The slings were made of human hair plaited, or 
the elastic fibres of the cocoa-nut husk; the stones 
they employed were about the size of a hen’s 
egg, generally ponderous pieces of compact lava, 
from the bed of a stream or the sea-beach, 
where they had been worn smooth by the action 
of the water. 
They had no shields or weapons of defence, 
except the javelin, which they used in warding off 
those that might be thrown at them; they were 
very expert in avoiding a stone, if they saw it 
thrown, and the spearmen excelled in parrying 
the thrusts of their enemies’ spears. The warriors 
seldom went to battle with any other dress than a 
maro or narrow girdle round their loins. Some, 
however, wore a quantity of cloth bound round 
their head, which was called ahupoonui , and the 
chiefs were frequently dressed in their war-cloaks 
and helmets. The cloaks, though they gave the 
