FED HIS ENEMY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 573, 28 January 1929, Page 1

FED HIS ENEMY

MAORI CHIVALRY IN WAR INCIDENTS NOT COMMON The chivalry of the Maori in battle ■was the subject of a paper given by "Mr. T. Downes, of Wanganui, at the Science Congress on Saturday. "Usually information was sent to a besieged pa when the general assault, by storm would take place so that the garrison would be ready,” said Mr. Downes. "When the battle of Motua was fought on the Wanganui River in 1864 the friendly natives drew up and allowed the Hauliaus to land from their canoes at the northern end of the island and form up before an attack was made. The Hauhaus on their part gave notice of the time of landing. “During a blockade it was no uncommon thing for a member of the attacking party to visit the besieged pa on friendly terms. If the besieged party was in very sore straits as to food or water it was a recognised form of war . etiquette to allow a certain amount of water to enter the pa with the messengers, but of course water in any quantity or in calabashes was prohibited. Food was sometimes permitted in much the same way. "I cannot find that such' acts as these were common, and it seems probable that they only occurred between hapus that were connected by family ties.”