RAGLAN. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. ) May 4th, 1863.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XIX, Issue 1812, 9 May 1863, Page 3

RAGLAN. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. ) May 4th, 1863.

The onward progress of events is' felt even in Baglan. We are in a degree of active excitement caused by the arrival amongst us of refugees from Waikato, sufferers from the Maori ejections. 'When it may come our turn we cannot tell; 'but the aspect of affairs is far from pi-omising. « / ' Mr. John Allen' is here with 140 head ol cattle from the South, having lost ten on the road. He hadto.return to tlie Waikato district to fetch his wife and children from'lJangiawhia, where they were carefully watched; and, I belioye, what is far worse,* had been carefully apportioned out, amongst , the natives. But Providence was kind to .Mr. Allen. A dark rainy night favoured their escape, and enabled them to elude the vigilance of their Maori guards. Mr. Allen was 'secreted m his own house, without the knowledge of the natives ; and you and your readers can well imagine his feelings as he lay stowed away in the roof of his own house, to hear a native consoling his wife, by telling her that she would only grieve for him a month, and then that she would be quite reconciled to hor fate, and perfectly happy with her new husband. I should say that Mr. Allenhas been brought up amongst these natives, and has always been regarded by them, in the most troubled times, as a staunch friend. A Waipa settler, Mr. Ferguson, is also hero witl^his " flocks and herds, having taken the hint' to leave when wai-ned away by the peaceloving Maoris. But events of a similar character are not confined to the Upper Waikato. Mr. Barrett, a settler at the Mata, about five miles from this, received a visit from some natives who asked him to allow his boys to go a short way into the bush with them to hold some wild pigs they had caught. No sooner were they out of sight of the house than they made off with the boys with all haste. The Mata block is Crown land. Barrett has been married to his Maori wife, I believe, for fifteen years, during which period" he has resided among the natives. When will the Government of New Zealand learn that " there is p, point beyond which endurance ceases to become a virtue ?" We will never be right until the authority of the law — not the " New Institutions " and Maori runangas, but English law — is enforced, without respect to the persons of brown men any more than white men. The "policy "of the Government is bad ; and every day's experience convinces me more and more of the fact. I enclose you a list of the abductions I have heard of in the Waipa. They are :—: — John Edward's daughter, and Dr. Hooper's two daughters, taken from Mr. Eeid's school, Waipa. Samuel Fergusons wife and child. William Astell's wife and child, taken and distributed amongst the natives. Francis Francis's two daughters. Bobert Ormsby, all his family ; -^ife and children. He begged hard to bo nllowed to retain one to take to town with him, but was refused. The stato of the whole interior of the island from this to Napier, the East Cape, and Wellington, may be described by one word — anarchy, and the ungoverned people can do what they chuse. To that liking wo aro a prey, and must succumb, as we are defenceless ; and though perfectly inoffensive, may be made the victims of that policy which has discouraged and even denied us the rights of self-defence. Eaglnn is one of those invilatory out-setfcle-ments which the unruliest among the disaffected Waikatos may take in detail when they think fit. Tho whole house property in our settlement is not worth above five or sit thousand pounds of the Queen's money ; and our absence from Eaglan would be the removal of a very salient point of weakness in the governing of the country. Our condition has been repeatedly laid before the authorities, and they know it — all of them do, — from the Governor downwards. Whether they look upon their duty — to whomsoever they may be "responsible" — as a thing that can be left unperformed any longer, I do not know, butl volunteer th,e- assertion that they arc not anxious tobechargeable with our blood. They have the best means of ascertaining the temper and intended tactics of the Waikato nationality, as all the missionaries, and many settlers besides them, are now in Auckland, not to speak of their own Mr. Gorst, and his company. The Government will certainly not be doing their duty if they do not do something for Eaglan. They have their choice of two things (1) to call in all the settlers, or (2) to send troops to protect us. [Or (3) arm the settlers, and let them defend themselves.] The second alternative suggests the financial question, are we worth protecting ? If not, then No. lis the duty of the Government, and ought to be executed without delay. The opinion here is that the Waikatos have been clearing away their own pakehas so that the field may be open for an onslaught somewhere or other. Certainly things never looked worse in Waikato than they do at present ; for in the late Taranaki war the Waikatos respected the inoffensive neutrality of Eaglan and Wailcato pakehas. Wi Nero's mana over us (when shall we have the Queen's mana ?) is worth httlo in the event of E,ewi Maniapoto or Anatipa getting a sufficient following to encourage them to tread the warpath. From a private letter, dated May 3rd, wo take the following :—: — The natives in the Waikato are in a very unsettled state. All Europeans are advised to fo. They may bring their cattle and goods, ut not their Maori wives or children, in fact, not one who has any Maori blood in them. John Allen, with his wife and five olnldren, arrived here last night. She is a half-caste. The childron you could not tell from Europeans. He was obliged to got her away by stratagem. He found they would not let her come away, but kept watoh to see that she did not go. Accordingly he started off with his cattle, and after going two days, he and three of his half-castes rode back in the night, and hid themselves in the roof all day. The natives came to try to persuade the wife to go with them, and she promised to go in a few days. The natives, believing that Allen was a long way off, discontinued keeping watch, so about nine o'clock they all mounted — the men. and Allen taking the children, the wife riding alone. They galloped off, travelled all night, and did not stop until they arrived at Mr. Emery's. In fact, they did not consider themselves safe until they arrived here. They had to leave everything behind them. Mrs. Allen says they have removed all the native women and half-caste children that have been left ; and that several Europeans are delaying leaving to see if they cannot bring the children off. But she says the river is watched day and night, and the houses of those suspected of leaving. The European settlers of Eawhia and Aotea expect every day to have nqtice given them.

The following paragraph from the Qcdong Chronicle, ofthe 31st ultimo, contains particulars in connection with the supposed loss of the steamer ' Citizen,' on the New Zealand coast, which we do not remember to have heard of before. We are inclined to question the correctness of the repoited finding of the "stern plank" by the Maoris of the SB. coast. ." A short time ago a subscription was" about to be raised for the purpose of relieving the wives and children of the voyagers by the ill-fated ' Citizen.' Some doubts being raised as to whether the vessel anight or might not turn up in. some of the ports or indents qf the New Zealand gronp, the matter of the subscription •^was allowed to fall in abeyance. Sinoe then,ireliable information has come to. hand that the stern, plank ,o£ a vessel, having letters ZEN painted upon it, was picked up by the Maoris of the Middle Island, on the south-eastern coast, and brought to the notice of Beveral of the European inhabitants ofthe same district. After this it may be presumed that all doubts as to her fate are dissipate^, and that the relations of the unfortunate sufferers, who arq" very numerous in 'Gteelong, p>o}ly'B Greek, *n<V the suburbs of ' Melbourne, ' are for ttie mpst part left in a state of 'destitution frmthe loss of their husbands, fathers,