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the arms and equipments. The men in fact look much better than when
dressed in their Maori clothing. Every man, almost without exception,
is covered with tattooing from the knees to the waist; the face is also
covered with dark spiral lines. Each man has round his middle a belt,
to which is fastened two cartridge boxes, one behind and one before;
another belt goes over the right shoulder and under the left arm, and
from it hangs, on the left side and rather behind, another cartridge
box, and under the waist-belt is thrust, behind, at the small of the
back, the short-handled tomahawk for close fight and to finish the
wounded. Each cartridge box contains eighteen rounds, and every man has
a musket. Altogether this _taua_ is better and more uniformly armed and
equipped than ordinary; but they have been amongst the first who got
pakehas to trade with them, and are indeed in consequence the terror of
New Zealand.

On they come, a set of tall, athletic, heavy-made men; they would, I am
sure, in the aggregate weigh some tons heavier than the same number of
men taken at random from the streets of one of our manufacturing towns.
They are now half way across the plain; they keep their formation, a
solid oblong, admirably as they advance, but they do not keep step;
this causes a very singular appearance at a distance. Instead of the
regular marching step of civilized soldiers, which may be observed at
any distance, this mass seems to progress towards you with the creeping
motion of some great reptile at a distance, and when coming down a
sloping ground this effect is quite remarkable.

The mimic opposition is now discontinued; the outpost rushes in at full
speed, the men firing their guns in the air as they run. "_Takina!
takina!_" is the cry, and out spring three young men, the best runners
of our tribe, to perform the ceremony of the _taki_. They hold in their
hands some reeds to represent darts or _kokiri_. At this moment a
tremendous fire of _ball_ cartridge opens from the fort; the balls
whistle in every direction, over and around the advancing party, who
steadily and gravely come on, not seeming to know that a gun has been
fired; though they perfectly well understand that this salute is also a
hint of full preparation for any unexpected turn things may take. Now,
from the whole female population arises the shrill "_haere mai! haere
mai!_" Mats are waving, guns firing, dogs barking; the chief roaring to
"fall in," and fo