“Some of our men,” wrote an eye-witness, “lost their lives through foolishly and recklessly exposing themselves to the fire of the rebels. Tired of waiting in the sap, and in some instances excited by drink, they stood up and invited their fate: ‘Come on,’ they would cry, ‘and we’ll cook your head for you!’—in jocular allusion to the preserved heads which once formed an important article of trade in this island.” The same narrator, an army chaplain, wrote: “Our men were short of caps; the reason for this was that they often used them for lighting their pipes. They placed a small piece of rag inside the caps, which they then caused to explode with the points of their bayonets. “The Royal Irish had to avenge the death of their gallant leader [Captain Ring]. More than one Maori was slain from the belief that he had fired the fatal shot. It is said that ten Maoris fell in this way; when a fugitive was overtaken the cry arose: ‘That is the man who killed the captain!’—then came a wild yell, a shot, a bayonet thrust, and all was over. “A Maori fugitive was taken prisoner and committed to the charge of two of the Royal Irish, who were thus prevented from joining in the pursuit. As they heard the shouts of the pursuers dying away in the distance they cursed their hard fate in being obliged to remain behind. An officer came up when their impatience had reached its crisis: ‘Shall we kill him, Barney?’ Barney thought for a moment, then shook his head. ‘I couldn’t kill the craytur in cold blood, Shane, but I wish we were quit of him.’ ‘Kick him and let him go,’ was the ready response. They loosed their hold and applied their heavy boots with full force to the person of their prisoner, who turned round and looked as if he would have sprung at their throats. The love of liberty was stronger than the thirst for revenge; he disappeared in the bush, while Shane and Barney hurried after their comrades. “Most of the women who attempted to escape from the pa were taken; they were not able to run as fast as the men, and were soon exhausted. One woman was found dead clasping a Bible to her breast. The sacred volume was found on the persons of several of the dead and wounded, who had left everything else behind.