THE CONDUCT OF BATTLES

Te Ao Hou, September 1961, Page 53

THE CONDUCT OF BATTLES Before the introduction of the muskets, pitched battles were probably not very common. When they did occur, both parties would often break into a fierce war dance to excite the warriors and give them the courage to face death. Single combat between the opposing chiefs was not uncommon. The result of such contests decided the battle for when the chief of a war party fell, the rest would usually retreat. In these single combats the champion warriors were motivated by a desire for fame, for stories about them were remembered after many generations. The rules of chivalry did not apply to such contests; the important thing was to see that the adversary was killed by whatever means were offering. Cannibalism was the regular practice in Maori wars. Human flesh was an important part of the food supply of war parties. The bodies were cut up with obsidian flakes and then cooked on heated stones which were laid in pits in the ground. Sometimes, flesh was kept as a supply for the journey. Such meat would first be boned, then dried and packed in flax baskets; alternatively, it was potted in fat in gourds. Prisoners were sometimes taken alive, tied together with flax ropes and kept on the hoof for future slaughter and use. It was really only in war that cannibalism was a regular occurrence. In peace, human flesh was rarely eaten, and only on very special occasions such as a famine or the visit of a very prominent visitors. If the attackers failed to surprise an enemy, they often withdrew. It was only rarely that an attempt was made to take a pa by storm; this was very difficult and seldom successfully managed. Occasionally a pa might be taken by sapping, by

pulling down stockades or by setting fire to them. At times, a siege was attempted. There is one siege on record that lasted for seven months. This was exceptional; it was very hard for Maori war parties to keep large forces together for any length of time, both because of the lack of any formal discipline and because of the difficulties of food supply. Apart from the little food that might be obtained from marauding, the only source of food was the human one within the stockades. Mortality in Maori wars must have been considerable in spite of the small forces usually engaged. No quarter was given in battle so that life could only be saved by flight, but it was during flight that the pursuers killed most of their enemies. Not many war parties were completely exterminated but more than a few lost a very large percentage of their members. Most captives were killed and eaten; some—especially women and children—were enslaved. But often these also were eaten. Some of the bones of the slain were saved, as further indignity, for making flutes, heads of bird spears, fish hooks, rings for captive parrots, pins and needles. Heads were sometimes thrown on a heap in a grisly ball game, occasionally they were impaled on the stockades of a pa. Heads of both friend or enemy, if belonging to great chiefs, were at times taken home and preserved. The loot of war included anything of value found in the pa. People used to keep some of their heirlooms constantly in hiding places, so that no enemy might possess them; fossickers keep on finding such treasures even today. Usually a war party hastily withdrew home after their quick victory; sometimes a succession of victories against a number of hapu would enable a group to take over the enemy's land. This would happen particularly where a piece of land was very desirable. The remnant of the earlier occupiers were then most probably driven to forest areas till then uncultivated, so that conquest played its part in inducing the defeated to settle and exploit the country.