146 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
a rare occurrence; they generally fought till one of the 
armies was vanquished and fled. When routed in the 
field, some fled to the pahu tapu, sacred enclosure, 
called also puhonua, or place of refuge; others repair¬ 
ed to their pari or fortress ; and when these were dis¬ 
tant, or the way to them intercepted, they all fled to 
the mountains, whither they were pursued by the vic¬ 
tors for weeks, and even months, afterwards. When 
discovered, they were cruelly massacred on the spot, 
or brought down to the king and chiefs. When led to 
the king’s presence, they usually prostrated themselves 
before him, and exclaimed, “ E make paha, e ora paha, 
—i runa te aro ? i raro te aro ?” To die perhaps, to 
live perhaps,—upwards the face ? or downwards the 
face ?—If the king did not speak, or said “ The face 
down,” it was sentence of death, and some one in 
attendance either despatched the poor captive in his 
presence, or led him away to be slaughtered. But if 
the king said, “ Upward the face,” they were spared, 
though perhaps spared only to be slaves, or to be 
sacrificed when the priests should require human vic¬ 
tims. The persons of the captives were the property 
of the victors, and their lives entirely at their disposal. 
A chief taken in the field, or during the retreat, was 
sometimes spared, and allowed to return to his home. 
The victors usually buried their dead; but the bodies 
of the slain, belonging to the vanquished, were gene¬ 
rally left unburied on the field, and were devoured by 
hogs and dogs, or suffered to rot. Small heaps of 
stones were afterwards piled over their bones, or on 
the spot where they had fallen, probably as trophies 
of victory. 
When the king or any chief of high rank was known 
