WANGANUI.

Press, Volume III, Issue 285, 29 September 1863, Page 2

WANGANUI.

By the "Heron" from Wanganui wo havo news from that place up to the 24th instant. There is no news of any importance. The follow* ing extracts are from the Chronicle of the 24th ' instant: — Everything still remains quiet as far as the Wanganui Natives are concerned, and several others of tho leading hapus ou the river are proposing to send addresses and guns to the Governor in testimony of their loyalty. Topia still declares that he will allow no fighting to take place here, and the Kaninihi Natives, who have been hitherto among the foremost of the Xingite party, are applying to be admitted into the number of her Majesty's loyal subjects. We understand, however, that tho Native Magistrate requires that, as they havo taken an active part in the war, they shall prove the sincerity of their present advances by surrendering their arms, or some of them, and tliat thoy are likely to comply with the demand. ~ An attempt has been made by Hamarama and two or three others at Tataraimaka to sow suspicion among the Putiki and other friondly Natives, by a letter representing that" the insurgent Maoris had * - surrounded one of the stockades at Taranaki, and that the authorities there-had imprisoned* tho* whole of the friendly Natives, to the number of _ hundred. The move,-however, was not? only unsuccessful, but disgusted the more respectable of the Ivingito Natives here, several of whose leading men, on hearing of the letter, at once came into town and denounced it as a tissue of falsehood. * C In consequence of tho detention of. the ; calves ~ • t) by the Waitotara Natives Mr. White put a stop . - If* to the trade between the offenders and the town. >* This led to disputing -tnbng s ;t .e^.JfitiTp* fhmt' y '* , selves on the subject,and the "cattle werebrought " ,in in consequence on Saturday. On their arrival ,it was found tliat they • had/been branded as an _ ~~ > assertion of the Maori King authority ; and Mr. T White has therefore demanded, that a fine should ( be paid by the Natives for this act, leaving' tho l I question of the asserted damage to a wheat stack - . to be adjudicated in the ordinary course. -\ The following rare yarn is in circulation among the Natives,-—Auckland has been sacked-and ~ ( 3000 Pakehas killed. The Governor is on fofurd • i a steamer five miles out at sea, and begging for '■; peace, which tho Maories will not mako on any ' terms. . ' ' , ;-; We have learned tlie following interesting facta j \ from the Leader (Melbourne paper) of the 22nd I . ult.:—" The Natives of Wanganui liave attacked \ the settlers in that neighborhood; but the volun- ' teere promptly repulsed them, and checked,the , outrages they were committing." % \ " In addition to the above startling intelligence- •■ the captain of tho Heron reports that the Natives ; \ of Wanganui havo received news' from Taranaki , that the Bell Block stockade has been taken by - t ', the Natives and 40 of o;r men killed. ~..-•> *' A remarkable instance of the vitality of' tho lower classes of animals has recently been noticed [in Wanganui. Mr. Lyon, grocer, in unpacking a '* * ' quantity of Barcelona nuts, observed among them -,\ ,an object about 1_ inch in idi.meter;, whioh, on | , inspection, proved to be a snail. Supposing it to ;| ,be of course dead he laid it aside, and was pre- '; \ sentry astonished to 6ee it crawling. Oa-befiag . . supplied with food and water it fed ravenously, ', and lias since been kept alive as a curiosity. It is ~'\ t not an English snail, so that there can be no i doubt it must have got among the nuts before } t they were shipped from Spaki, and have e»sted -§ f without its natural food, and -eer__nly~w_hoa| •%; t water, during the eight or ten months oceupiedjin . I , the passages between Spain, England, ana_%v '%\ Zealand.— lbid. • %

I HAWKE'S BAY.. g By our Utcst dates from hence vre learn that 'M 5 the ill feeling between the Native tribes still con* i £ tinues, and that it was feared the settlers might get *' £ b involved. Great exertions wero being made for « | ', the defence of the provinces, as tho Waikato ends- *;- saries were at work, urging a combuied rir4% of -;; . the East and Weßt Coast Natives.-— Chronicle. . 71 j ;■ I