Their conduct on first seeing a ship, as described by
Captain Cook, strongly illustrates this: the act of throwing
volleys of stones at so great and novel an object, and their
defiance of "Come on shore and we will kill and eat you all," shows
uncommon boldness. This warlike spirit is evident in many of their
customs, and even in their smallest actions. If a New Zealander is
struck, although but in joke, the blow must be returned; and of
this I saw an instance with one of our officers.
At the present day, from the progress of civilisation, there is
much less warfare, except among some of the southern tribes. I
heard a characteristic anecdote of what took place some time ago in
the south. A missionary found a chief and his tribe in preparation
for war;--their muskets clean and bright, and their ammunition
ready. He reasoned long on the inutility of the war, and the little
provocation which had been given for it. The chief was much shaken
in his resolution, and seemed in doubt: but at length it occurred
to him that a barrel of his gunpowder was in a bad state, and that
it would not keep much longer. This was brought forward as an
unanswerable argument for the necessity of immediately declaring
war: the idea of allowing so much good gunpowder to spoil was not
to be thought of; and this settled the point.
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