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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from A Footnote to History by Robert Louis Stevenson: nature of the ground, where men must thread dense bush and clamber
on the face of precipices. Apia was near enough; a man, if he had
a dollar or two, could walk in before a battle and array himself in
silk or velvet. Casualties were not common; there was nothing to
cast gloom upon the camps, and no more danger than was required to
give a spice to the perpetual firing. For the young warriors it
was a period of admirable enjoyment. But the anxiety of Mataafa
must have been great and growing. His force was now considerable.
It was scarce likely he should ever have more. That he should be
long able to supply them with ammunition seemed incredible; at the
rates then or soon after current, hundreds of pounds sterling might
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