162 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
with proposals for peace. When these were agreed 
to, they all repaired to the temple. There a pig 
was slain, its blood caught in a vessel, and after¬ 
wards poured on the ground, probably to signify 
that thus it should be done to those who broke the 
treaty. A wreath of mairi, a sweet-scented plant* 
was then woven by the leading chiefs of both 
parties, and deposited in the temple. Peace was 
ratified, feasting, dances, and public games fol¬ 
lowed. The warriors returned to their lands, and 
the king’s heralds were sent round his districts, to 
announce na pau ka kaua , ended is the war. 
The introduction of fire-arms, which so soon 
followed the discovery of the Sandwich Islands, 
increased the passion for conquest and plunder in 
the minds of the proud and turbulent chiefs by 
whom they were governed; and although the re¬ 
cent introduction and partial reception of Chris¬ 
tianity has not induced them to discontinue the 
practice of war, it has already altered its ferocious 
and exterminating character, and the principles of 
clemency inculcated in the gospel have been most 
strikingly exemplified in the humane conduct of 
the chiefs by whom it has been embraced.* 
There is every reason to hope that Christianity, 
when generally received, will subdue their restless 
and ambitious spirits ; and under its influence, they 
may be expected to delight in the cultivation of 
the useful arts of peace* 
* After a late civil Avar in Tauai, when the captives were 
brought before Karaimoku, the chief against whom they 
had rebelled, he dismissed many of them with spelling- 
books, and directed them to go home, and dwell in peace, 
cultivate their lands, learn to read and write, and worship 
the true God. 
