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.

ROLE OF WAR IN MAORI LIFE Warfare, for all its horror, fulfilled some necessary functions in Maori society. As we have just seen, it was through wars that the tribes were spread out and occupied the large areas of land needed to provide sustenance. Furthermore, in the absence of regular forms of public justice in the relations between Maori communities, war was advantageous to redress wrongs and deter offenders. It discouraged thefts and murders of members of other hapu. War also strengthened the bonds of unity between the participating hapu. Before the musket was introduced and Maori society became thorough disorganized through the early impact of European settlement, war was not allowed to interfere seriously with economic life, that is, the ensuring of the food supply. There was mostly a set season for warfare and this fell from November when the crops had been planted until early autumn when they had to be harvested. That period might be dedicated to the war-god Tu, but the rest of the year was usually under the tutelage of Rongo, the god of agriculture and the pleasures of peace. This deity, although lacking Tu's ferocity, was equally imperious, for without food and the hard work of procuring it, man would starve.

THE EDUCATION HANDICAP A Book Review by B. E. Souter. Assistant Secretary for Maori Affairs MAORI YOUTH, by David P. Ausubel, Price Milburn, Wellington, 1961, 18/-. This book by Professor Ausubel is the result of eleven months' field work in New Zealand in 1957–58 during the tenure of a Fulbright research grant. Dr Ausubel sets out to examine the aspirations of comparable groups of Maori and Pakeha adolescents in both an urban and rural environment. There is an interesting table of I.Q.s in the book which gives point to the Department of Maori Affairs campaign to encourage Maoris to move from rural areas to towns and cities. This table shows: FORM, AGE AND I.Q. OF SUBJECTS Number of Pupils Form Age Urban Sample Rural Sample and I.Q.MaoriPakehaMaoriPakeha 3rd Form31312121 4th Form14141414 5th Form331515 Total Pupils48485050 Mean Age (years-months)15–114–715–515–0 Otis I.Q.90.394.384.992.8 The table indicates that Maori children brought up in an urban environment, where living conditions are usually of a higher standard, make much better scores than Maori children from a rural