Omens.
They believe in omens; but of these I was only able to hear of two examples—namely, flying foxes,[9] and fireflies, the latter, though common in the plains, being rare on the mountains, and both of these are bad omens. Any person or party starting off on a journey, or on a hunting or fishing expedition, and meeting either of these creatures would probably at once turn back; and I was told that even a full war party starting off on a punitive expedition would turn back, or at least halt for a time, if it met one or other of them. I cannot help thinking there must be some other omens, which I have failed to discover.