(pouwhenua, tewhatewha and taiaha) averaged some five feet in length, were made of tough wood in one piece and had both a blade for striking and a sharp point for stabbing. Dexterity and quick footwork were required for their use. In addition to this long weapon, the Maori warrior usually carried a short club or patu—made of wood, bone or stone) stuck in his belt. They had flat blades whose ends were ground to a sharp edge extending down the sides. A strip of dogskin was passed through a hole bored near the butt to hold the weapon. It had to be used with great speed to be successful; usually the thrust was aimed at temple, neck or ribs; as the enemy was falling, he was despatched with a blow of the blunt butt or heel of the club. The Maori rarely used throwing spears, did not know bows and arrows, and did not use shields. Fortresses (pa) as distinct from open unfortified villages, were usually built upon some hills, spurs or craggy headlands, or upon islands in lakes, swamps, or off the coast. The defence works were massive, consisting of ramparts and trenches, behind which stockades were erected. The defenders were stationed behind the stockades, sometimes on fighting stages, from which they could more easily throw spears and stones down upon the enemy. People only stayed at the pas when there was danger; otherwise they lived at their fishing, hunting and cultivating grounds. Maori war parties sometimes avoided arduous journeys on foot by using war canoes which were made from the stoutest and largest trunks available, i.e. from the native New Zealand kauri pine or trunks of totara. On the average the canoes accommodated seventy people and were some seventy feet long. They were manned by a double row of warriors who plied their paddles in time to the chants and gestures of one or two leaders standing amidships. The canoes carried war parties not only along the coast but also up and down the larger rivers and across lakes. Sometimes they were carried for miles from one waterway to another. Much travelling was done over foot tracks only a few inches wide, over which the war parties walked in single file. When a war party was large, it therefore extended a long way along the track and was very liable to be ambushed. When there was much danger, scouts were used. Feint attacks, feint retreats and ambuscades were the mainstay of Maori war tactics before the introduction of muskets. Stratagems based on these tactics were often very ingenious. Open fighting was rare.

HOKOWHITU A TU The common fighting unit was the hapu. Small wars were fought by one hapu, but often several related hapu or an entire tribe joined in a large force. The fighting strength of a hapu was rarely more than a few hundred; sometimes it lay below 100. A common name for a small war party was hokowhitu-a-Tu, meaning the 140 men of Tu. Another common number mentioned by Maori authorities is 340. Probably these were typical of the strength of many war parties. The usual leaders of war parties were high born chiefs. They were more leaders than commanders; using words, gestures and exemplary action to urge the men onward. The great influence of the chief is shown by the fact that very often an attacking force would withdraw even on the verge of victory because a leader was lost or wounded. Generally, discipline was not developed as in a modern army; there was for instance no definite sanction against desertion. In the absence of effective discipline and any channelling of command, fighting units had to be kept together physically as well as in spirit. The small forces, comprising only one hapu, derived some advantages therefore from close kinship and small size. If men from several hapu joined in a common war, each hapu did as it pleased and remained under its own chief. Often, they could not get together in battle and large forces were beaten by quite small ones.

PREPARATIONS FOR WAR Within the village, the question of peace or war was considered in the meeting house or on the marae. The assembled people, both men and women, devoted themselves to warlike speeches, songs and chants, thus working themselves up into a state of excitement and military fervour. The chief had to have his people's support from the start. There were a number of ceremonial ways of calling upon the aid of allies, such as offering a chief of another hapu a burnt cloak. A messenger would hand such a token over without a word, to be accepted or rejected; the claim for help was simply based on kinship. The use of such symbols rather than full explanations was at least partly prompted by the need for secrecy. If a hapu accepted the offering he was invited to a great feast always held before a war was started. There was no specific military training except for the war dances and other demonstrations at the place of assembly. These demonstrations were scanned by expert old men or women for evidence of the warriors' fitness and enthusiasm. Mistakes in the movements were ill omens. Yet the young were educated for war. Boys were taught to wake at the slightest sound, to evade a falling blow. They used reeds and wooden rods to practise the spear thrusts. In adolescence real but padded weapons were substituted. Boys learned to wrestle, box, jump, run, throw stones, and climb. They also memorized ritual utterances used in war. Surprise was an important element in Maori warfare. One could never know what enemy might turn up for an insult even several generations ago might make a hapu decide to take the warpath at any time together with what allies could be found. The Maori proverb said: ‘Birds