Maori war leaders usually made a speech before battle to excite the passions of the army. (Augustus Earle, 1832, Courtesy Turnbull Library) WARFARE OF THE MAORI by E. G. SCHWIMMER A vast amount has been written on Maori warfare, and as the subject is so exciting, most New Zealanders know many tales about the old-time Maori warrior. In a book recently published by the Polynesian Society, Wellington, Dr A. P. Vayda, an American research scholar, has put together what the scientist really knows about ‘Maori Warfare’. The picture he presents is by no means less interesting than what was previously believed—indeed, the truth is usually more interesting than the products of bloodthirsty imagination—but it contains far fewer vast armies, epic battles and heroic self sacrifice; on the contrary it shows the Maori as very practical and cunning, and—most important of all—it shows that his love of war, and his love of life and his stomach were remarkably well balanced. Here follows a short summary of Dr Vayda's book. Wars were a constant feature of Maori life; conflicts over land and insults of every description were causes of war. The defeated party in any way was under an obligation, if it wished to restore its mana, to avenge its humiliation, so war was never finished with. Even after European settlement wars continued; indeed they became greatly intensified through the introduction of muskets. The Maori people thus developed a very warlike spirit; also they developed to a high degree a method of warfare suitable to the couutry and to the weapons they possessed. Much has been written about the valour and chivalry of the Maori warrior, but we must be cautions not to believe too much of this, for the first aim of warfare is to win; it would have been impossible in the hard world of the ancient Maori to be like the chivalrous knights of romance and still survive. Wooden spears used for thrusting and long and short clubs were the usual weapons of the Maori. The most commonly used type of spear was perfectly plain, some six to nine feet long, about an inch in diameter at the thickest part and tapering to a sharp point at the end. The long clubs