At this point of the field befell a trait of Samoan warfare worth recording.

Taiese (brother to Siteoni already mentioned) shot a Tamasese man.

He saw him fall, and, inflamed with the lust of glory, passed the river single-handed in that storm of missiles to secure the head.

On the farther bank, as was but natural, he fell himself; he who had gone to take a trophy remained to afford one; and the Mataafas, who had looked on exulting in the prospect of a triumph, saw themselves exposed instead to a disgrace.

Then rose one Vingi, passed the deadly water, swung the body of Taiese on his back, and returned unscathed to his own side, the head saved, the corpse filled with useless bullets.
At this rate of practice, the ammunition soon began to run low, and from an early hour of the afternoon, the Malietoa stores were visited by customers in search of more.