An oath of friendship between chiefs is a serious matter. A mithan is tied up to a post and the parties to the oath, grasping a spear with their right hands, stab it behind the shoulder with sufficient force to draw blood, repeating a formula to the effect that until the rivers run backwards into the earth again they will be friends. The animal is then killed and a little of the blood is smeared on the feet and forehead of the oath takers. To make this oath more binding they both eat a small piece of the liver raw. [9. War and head-hunting.] The true Lushai method of making war was to raid the enemy's villages and carry off as many captives and as much loot as possible. In this they form a great contrast to the Chins, whose plan of action was systematically to ambush the paths in the enemy's country and kill as many passers-by as possible. The Lushais consider this unsporting and say pathetically, "How can men live if for fear of ambushes no cultivation can be carried on?" The Chins were fully aware of the effectiveness of their method of warfare and resorted to it whenever they wished to extend their boundaries, piqueting the coveted piece of land so effectually that it was soon abandoned to them. The essence of success in Lushai tactics was surprise, and no disgrace attached to a party of warriors which, on finding the enemy on the alert, quickly returned home without attempting any attack. The wars between the different Lushai clans lasted sometimes for several years, but were not very energetically prosecuted. Thus in a war between the Thangluah and Sailo chiefs which lasted from about 1833 to 1850, about six villages were destroyed on each side, but, except on one occasion, but few lives were lost. The exception was the massacre of Thaurang, a Sailo chief's village, which is still spoken of with pride by the descendants of the perpetrators. The people of Thaurang were celebrating a great feast, and in all the principal houses in the village zu was being dispensed to all comers. There had been no hostilities of late, and the guards gradually abandoned their posts and joined the groups round the zu pots. With song and dance the night passed merrily, and by two or three in the morning no one was in a fit state to notice that a large number of strangers, whose drunkenness was only assumed, had mingled with the crowd. Suddenly a gun-shot gave the signal, and, drawing their dahs, the Thangluahs fell on their enemies, who, too drunk to know friend from foe, were slaughtered without mercy. Having burnt the village, the successful warriors returned dragging with them many captives. The Sailo chiefs tried to play the same trick on the Thangluah when some time later the latter were celebrating their victory with a large feast, but their intelligence department was inefficient and the attack was not delivered till some days after the feast.