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[Page 210]

206.
Some account of New Zealand

you with our Patoo patoos: in this manner they continued to threaten us  venturing by degrees nearer & nearer till they were close alongside  at intervals talking very civily & answering any questions we askd them but quickly renewing their threats till they had by our non-resistance gaind courage enough to begin their war song & dance  after which they either became so insolent that we found it nescessary to chastise them by firing small shot at them  or else threw three or four stones on board & as if content with having offerd such an insult unreveng'd left us

[Margin note] War Song
The War Song & dance consists of Various contortions of the limbs during which the tongue is frequently thrust out incredibly far & the orbits of the eyes enlargd so much that a circle of white is distinctly seen round the Iris  in short nothing is omittd which can render a human shape frightful & deformd  which I suppose they think to be terrible  during this time they brandish their spears  hack the air with their patoo patoos & shake their darts as if they meant every moment to begin the attack  singing all the time in a wild but not disagreable manner & ending every strain with a loud & deep fetchd sigh in which they all join in concert  the whole is accompanied by strokes struck
 

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