space between them; then the slingers of stones advance.
The most expert of these slingers are renowned warriors, and when they
are recognised a shout arises from the opposite ranks, "Beware! a
powerful stone is such an one." At short range the stones about the
size of a hen's egg are thrown straight at the enemy with such force
that it is almost impossible to avoid them, so that they do much
execution. But soon again the lines close and the fight is renewed hand
to hand.

At length one of the lines begins to waver. Seeing this, the others are
encouraged to renewed efforts; their enemies at last break and fly, and
then a scene of terrible carnage follows. The vanquished rush to their
canoes, or fly to the strongholds of the mountains. The victors
continue the pursuit, slaughtering men and women indiscriminately. A
fallen warrior perchance cries for mercy, "Spare me! may I live?" says
he. If the name of his conqueror's chief or king is invoked, the
request is sometimes granted; if not, the only reply is a taunt,
followed by a thrust or a deadly blow. Thus the scene of murder and
blood goes on until the fugitives have reached their strongholds, or
until the shades of evening put an end to the pursuit.

Such were the scenes that took place in the days of Captain Cook, and
such or similar scenes still occur frequently at the present time on the
coral isles of the Pacific.

When their wars are conducted on the sea, the islanders embark in
war-canoes, which are so large as to be able to carry from sixty to
eighty and even a hundred men. Captain Cook tells us that the ingenuity
of these people appears in nothing more than in their canoes. They are
long and narrow. One that he measured was sixty-eight and a half feet
long, five feet broad, and three feet and a half deep. The bottom was
sharp, with straight sides like a wedge. Each side consisted of one
entire plank sixty-three feet long, ten or twelve inches broad, and an
inch and a quarter thick. The bottom part of the canoe was hollowed
out, and these planks were lashed to it with strong plaiting. A
grotesque ornament projected six feet beyond the head, and it had a sort
of stern-post that rose to a height of about fourteen feet. Both the
head and the stern-post were beautifully carved, and the canoe was
propelled by means of short paddles, the men sitting with their faces in
the direction in which they were going. The heads of many of the canoes
were curi