Early European reports suggest that Māori children were indulged and led a carefree and playful life. A French explorer in 1772 commented that "women seemed to be good mothers and showed affection for their offspring. I have often seen them play with the children, caress them, chew the fern-root, pick at the stringy parts, and then take it out of their mouth to put it into that of their nurslings. The men were also very fond of and kind to their children." French missionary Jean-Simon Bernard wrote, disapprovingly, in 1844: "The children here are completely free; the parents never do anything to them. They never beat them and do not allow anyone else to beat them." The killing of children could be the (cause) of war. In 1815 the north Taranaki Ngāti Tama killed two Ngāti Maniapoto boys during a visit to friends at Motuawa near the Mokau heads. This led to a Ngāti Maniapoto reprisal raid when warriors pretended to be peaceful visitors and launched a surprise attack on Ngāti Tama.