EXPECTED SURRENDER OF REBELS. PREPARATIONS FOR HOSTILITIES.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXI, Issue 2610, 29 November 1865, Page 7

EXPECTED SURRENDER OF REBELS. PREPARATIONS FOR HOSTILITIES.

(From th»'"l)»liy Southirn Crosi," lfor#ml)«i 10.)! By'the arrival tin Thursday afternoon of the sohooner 'Tawera,' wo have advioes.from Poverty! Bay to Tuesday lost. •■ ' It- is reported that severtl influential chiefs had ihpwn a difposition to mrrender, and had inquired what the prioe 1 of their tubmiuion would be. <,They appenredto imagine that the payment, of Jio'inany he«d of cattle would be required to emure peace. t , No absolute, otfer of surrender had been'nwde however, *ud preparations were, being made at the time the ' T»wer* ' left for a renewal of hostilities.

Thb Haw/he's day Times of the 6th initant give« tjie following later intelligence from Poverty Bay. It is from a correspondent of that journal : —

TtTRAHQA, Novenibor 2. Native affairs have at. length almost reached a climax in Poverty Bay; the undetermined aspect hitherto Maintained by the majority of the natives i« giving place to a decided Hauhaii attitude. Aggressions upon the property, stock, and iheep of the settler* are of frequent occurrence ; hostile pat are being built and fortified around, and last, not least, tho conversation and demeanour of the natives as a body show that fighting is close at hand. At a great meeting of the Hauhau party on Tuesday last the animus oE ' the rebels was distinctly enough exhibited. A large party had arrived on the previous evening from Hawai with the expressed intention of provoking or commenoing hoitilities, and the influence of these men ou the minds of our wavering allies was too plainly to be seen at tho meeting. It was unanimously resolved to commence hostilities at once. The families of the settlors are mostly in and congregated for safety at Turanganui, where they will remain until the storm has passed over.

5 p.m. As the ' Start' is just leaving, I add a line to the above to say that it i< reported that the taua i« olose at baud, in fact almost within sight, and wo are expecting a tarn with them perhaps ere night closes. We shall aim at making the struggle short, sharp, and decisive.

November 8. By the 'Tawera I send you Another line, to say that our expectations are fully realised, — the taiu u upon uk. They are burning and destroying houses and property all round ; have turned out, and, it is laid, taken prisoners those of the people who did not take warning and come in, and burnt their property in their presence ; but as yet we hear of no murders. You may believe that I have not time to write more now.

We have been favoured with tlio perusal of a private letter from Poverty Bay, of date November 7, from which we extract the following :—: — " It has now come to our turn to experience what the colonists in many other parts of this island have experienced before us. The settlers here have, with very few exceptions, been obliged to fly from their homes, and sinoe they have left the Hauhaus have been ravelling in plunder. The worst feature in it all is that what the misoreants could not make use of, or carry away, they have utterly destroyed. "The immediately exoiting cause of this move has been the arrival of Kenare Potae, from Te Mawhia, with about 30 men, about eiijhfc dayu ago. Not that he did anything here to provoke "it ; but the Hauhaus made his coming the excuie for doing what they did. They have said that they are determined to have war, and that if this wholesale robbery is not sufficient to bring it on, they will take the first opportunity of murdering lotue white man. " Within the lnsfc three or four days they have changed their tone a little. Some of their leaden affect to be angry with their people for perpetrating such outrages, and they say they will make them pay for it. Perhaps they are encouraged to think that they can arrange the matter without fighting, by the news which we have just received that the murderers of Mr. Job Hamlia have received a free pardon. "From what I have said, you will see that matters cannot remain as they are much longer. I shall take an early opportunity ef lea vine; for a time at aIJ events." We may add that the writer of the foregoing letter may be trusted in every respect. He is not at all likely to overstate anything connected with the disturbed state of his district, and we accept hia letter as containing a faithful record of facts, — "Daily Southern Cross," Nov. 13.