Before coming to one or two illustrations of the more barbaric form of this type of dance, one instance may be offered of the ecstatic dance of the milder kind being performed with an object different from those which are usually connected with it. Among the Maoris the war-dance, which was looked upon as a religious act, was often performed on the eve of battle in order to impart daring and bravery to the warriors; and this dance often assumed the form of frenzy when accompanied by the beating of drums and the shouting of the dancers. An eye-witness describes it thus: The Maoris turned their faces into close imitations of their demonlike carved images. But the thrust-out tongue, the wild rolling eyes standing out of the head, the fierce grimaces, and the quivering hands and fingers, with the accompaniment of the deep-drawn cries and the stamp of feet, had all the advantages of living movement to add to the terrifying effect. It is difficult to efface the deep impression that its massive energy and furious, almost epileptic, passion makes on the mind, when produced by hundreds. It surpassed in fury anything that kava or any other drug or fermented liquor could have given to the harmonious movements of a mass of warriors[225]. Strictly speaking, this hardly belongs to the category of ecstatic dances because it is not performed with any idea of communication with a supernatural power, whether as a means of effecting union with it, or honouring it, or as a form of supplication to it; nevertheless, it is worth recording here, if only because it affords an illustration of the extended use of a rite for purposes with which originally it had nothing to do. And now to give, finally, an example or two of the ecstatic dance in its most extreme and barbaric form. Frazer tells us that when game was very scarce, certain Basuto tribes which lived partly by the chase, were wont to assemble and invoke the spirit of a famous dead chief and other ancestral deities. At these ceremonies they cut themselves with knives, rolled in ashes, and uttered piercing cries. They also joined in religious dances, chanted plaintive airs, and gave vent to loud lamentations. After spending a whole day and night in wailing and prayer, they dispersed next morning to scour the country in search of the game which they confidently expected the ghosts or gods would send in answer to their intercession[226]. He compares this with the frenzied rites of the Canaanite prophets of Baal, and refers to another well-known case among the Israelites themselves (Hos. vii. 14), in which they lacerated their bodies by way of appealing to the deity on behalf of their corn and vines. The non-mention of the sacred dance in this passage does not imply that it did not take place; analogies suggest that it was an indispensable part of the rite.