"All the more reason. They have 'waxed fat,' etc., and long to try conclusions with the white man. As for liking war as an amusement, read the record of the last century. It is one long list of stubborn and bloody engagements--wars for conquest; wars in satisfaction of long-past feuds; wars in defence; wars of aggression; wars for ill-timed pleasantries; for all conceivable reasons; last, not least, for no reason at all. Of the Maoris it may be said most truly, as Sir Walter Scott of the borderer-- 'Let nobles fight for fame; Let vassals follow where they lead. Burghers, to guard their townships bleed; But _war's_ the Borderer's game.' So most truly is it the Maori's. Next to the chance of killing his enemy, the chance of being killed himself is the most delightful excitement known to him. So, you may judge that a force of this character, used to gliding through woods like these, unhampered by clothing, yet well armed, must be a dangerous foe." "So I should think," said Massinger. "And if these Waikatos join the Ngatiawa and other tribes, they will have a considerable force? What, for instance, is about the number of adult whites in this North Island?" "In 1849 about six thousand, including nearly half as many soldiers; and of natives, say one hundred and five thousand." "Then if they choose to combine, they could drive us into the sea." "If a really well-organized attack by the whole Maori nation was made before the Government could get help from abroad, the whites would be something in the same position as they were in Hayti when the negroes revolted. But it will never come off." "Why should it not?" "Because, as in the Great Indian Mutiny, the tribes are divided. Some of the older chiefs, men of ability and forecast, have always been true to the whites, and will remain so--Waka Nene and Patuone, with others. Their tribes are powerful, and are, like most savage races, ready to join the whites against their hereditary enemies--such, by many a bitter blood-feud, that time has not weakened." "I understood from your daughter--you will pardon me for referring to it--that you had personally assisted the British Government in the time of Heke's rebellion." "Yes; I was the first and only white man who raised men, and held him and his force in check after he had sacked and burned the town of Kororareka. We were fighting almost every day for a month till the troops arrived. When I proposed to the chief, Waka Nene, to oppose Heke, he said he had not men enough, but that if I would join him with all I could raise, he would turn out. I saw that the fate of the North depended on my answer; Heke was then on the march to Hokianga. I agreed. In twenty-four hours I had joined the chief, with twice as many men as he had, and, as I said before, we found the enemy in full employment till the troops came."