They Then Went To
Single Combat, And Exhibited The Various Methods Of Fighting, With Great
Alertness; Parrying Off The Blows And Pushes Which Each Combatant Aimed At
The Other, With Great Dexterity.
Their arms were clubs and spears; the
latter they also use as darts.
In fighting with the club, all blows
intended to be given the legs, were evaded by leaping over it; and those
intended for the head, by couching a little, and leaping on one side; thus
the blow would fall to the ground. The spear or dart was parried by fixing
the point of a spear in the ground right before them, holding it in an
inclined position, more or less elevated according to the part of the body
they saw their antagonist intending to make a push, or throw his dart at,
and by moving the hand a little to the right or left, either the one or the
other was turned off with great ease. I thought that when one combatant had
parried off the blows, &c. of the other, he did not use the advantage which
seemed to me to accrue. As for instance, after he had parried off a dart,
he still stood on the defensive, and suffered his antagonist to take up
another, when I thought there was time to run him through the body.[2]
These combatants had no superfluous dress upon them; an unnecessary piece
of cloth or two, which they had on when they began, were presently torn off
by the by-standers, and given to some of our gentlemen present.
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