Cannibalism is at the present day nearly, though not quite, extinct. Chiefly by the efforts of the missionaries, it has been greatly reduced; and even in cases where it does take place the natives are chary of speaking about it. In wars that took place some forty years ago, we learn that several hundred warriors were slain, and their bodies eaten by their victors. In comparatively recent times twenty or thirty bodies have been brought into the pah and eaten, while at the present day many a native has never seen an act of cannibalism. This strange and ghastly custom is, however, so dear to the Maori mind that one of the chief obstacles to the conversion of the natives to Christianity is to be found in the fact that the Christian natives are obliged to abjure the use of human flesh. Still, the national instinct of vengeance is rather repressed than extirpated, and there are many well-known occasions when it has burst through all its bonds, and the savage nature of the Maori has for a time gained ascendency over him. CHAPTER LXXXIII. NEW ZEALAND--_Continued_. WAR. THE MODE OF WARFARE DEPENDENT ON WEAPONS -- THE SPEAR, NOW EXTINCT -- THE MERAI, AND THE MATERIALS OF WHICH IT IS MADE -- THE GREEN JADE MERAI, AND ESTIMATION IN WHICH IT IS HELD BY THE CHIEFS -- THE STONE MERAI -- THE BONE MERAI, AND ITS VARIED SHAPES -- MODE OF USING THE WEAPON -- CAPTURE OF SHIPS -- AN EXCITING SCENE AND TIMELY RELIEF -- THE BATTLE-AXE, OR PATU -- ITS FORM, AND MODE OF USING IT -- THE CHIEF’S SPEAR, OR HANI -- ITS RESEMBLANCE TO THE ANCIENT SCEPTRE -- THE TONGUE OF DEFIANCE -- THE WAR DANCE -- ITS EFFECT ON BOARD SHIP -- THE FORT, OR PAH, AND ITS CONSTRUCTION -- NATIVE ENGINEERING -- THE REPULSE AT THE GATE PAH -- CONCEALING AN AMBUSH -- FATE OF CAPTIVES -- THE CHIEF E’HONGI AND HIS BATTLES -- SLAVE-DRIVING WITH A MERAI -- ETIQUETTE OF WAR -- A TRUCE AND A BARTER -- RETALIATION FOR BLOODSHED -- CEREMONIES BEFORE AND AFTER A BATTLE. We now come to the one great object of a Maori’s life, namely, war. Before we treat of actual warfare, it will be necessary to describe the weapons which are used, as much of the character of warfare materially depends on them. In those parts of the world, for instance, where missiles, such as bows and arrows or spears, are the principal weapons, war becomes a series of skirmishes, each individual trying to conceal himself as much as possible from the enemy, and to deal his own blows without exposing himself to retaliation. But when the weapons are of a nature that necessitates hand-to-hand combat, warfare naturally assumes a different aspect, and, if the forces be at all disciplined, more resembles the regulated war of civilized nations than the independent single combats which represent war in most savage countries.