s pursued, overtaken, and immediately put to death."

Every more remarkable occasion of their rude and turbulent life seems
to have its appropriate song. The planting of their potatoes, the
gathering in of the crop, the commencement of the battle, the interment
of the dead, are all celebrated, each by its peculiar chorus, as well
as, probably, most of their other customary excitements, both of mirth
and of mourning.

The New Zealanders have a variety of national dances; but none of them
have been minutely described. Some of them are said to display much
grace of movement; others are chiefly remarkable for the extreme
violence with which they are performed. As among the other South Sea
tribes, when there are more dancers than one, the most perfect
uniformity of step and attitude is preserved by all of them; and they do
not consider it a dance at all when this rule is not attended to.

Captain Dillon very much amused some of those who came on board his ship
by a sample of English dancing, which he made his men give them on deck.
A company of soldiers going through their manual exercise would
certainly have come much nearer their notions of what a dance ought to
be.

Although there are no written laws in New Zealand, all these matters
are, no doubt, regulated by certain universally understood rules,
liberal enough in all probability, in the license which they allow to
the tyranny of the privileged class, but still fixing some boundaries to
its exercise, which will accordingly be but rarely overstepped. Thus,
the power which the chief seems to enjoy of depriving any of his slaves
of life may be limited to certain occasions only; as, for instance, the
death of some member of the family, whose manes, it is conceived, demand
to be propitiated by such an offering. That in such eases slaves are
often sacrificed in New Zealand, we have abundant evidence.

Cruise even informs us that when a son of one of the chiefs died in
Marsden's house, in New South Wales, it required the interposition of
that gentleman's authority to prevent some of the boy's countrymen, who
were with him, from killing a few of their slaves, in honour of their
deceased friend. On other occasions, it is likely that the life of the
slave can only be taken when he has been convicted of some delinquency;
although, as the chief is the sole judge of his criminality, he will
find this, it may be thought, but a slight protection. The domestic
slaves of the chiefs