NGATIAPA V. NGATIRAUKAWA : THREATENED HOSTILITIES.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVII, Issue 4355, 31 July 1871, Page 3

NGATIAPA Y. NGATIRAUKAWA : THREATENED HOSTILITIES.

A correspondent of the Wellington Independent writes: — "Great excitement prevails among the various hapus of natives scattered along the West Coast in consequence of the attitude assumed by Kawana Hunia and his Ngatiapa, and Kepa or Kemp and his Whanganuis, in conjunction with the Muopoko, with regard to the disputed land at Horowhenua. About three weeks ago these chiefs and about twenty of their men went armed to the whwe of Watene Tawaewae ' and ordered him off his land, himself, his wife, and another of the owners named To Witi. They of- bourse refused to go, when the Ngatiapa set fire to the whare, the owners of it being then inside, and refusing to come out. They were pulled out of the burning house, and, after using many threats and brandishing his revolver, Hunia and his men departed to the Muopoko settlement, near *t hand, where he has since constructed a pa. This pa is composed of an outer line of strong palisades with rifle-pits \ and earthworks Within, and a large whare is sunk in the ground so as to be out of the ; line of fire of any enemy who may attack the fortification; 1 A large supply of potatoes, corn, &0., has been carted within, and every preparation made for war. Meanwhile,were sent to the various hapus of! NgatiraukVwa, witli information of what -Had occurred, and great excitement was the consequence of the news. There is no doubt that, ;had- 'such an outrage been 'committed some; few years ago, war, quick, and sudden, would hav£' been, the inevitable' result ; but times are greatly cnanged with the Maoris, and the old custom of taking immediate ' utu is 1 tempered. by a, wish to t knojw, ,the .feeing. o{ the paketia on the subject. Telegrams^wjere sent and iett^rAwri^te^nJq^n.McLejjp, arid" what he wppldjjay and; is,' the principal tooic of conversation among Ngatiraukawa. It" speaks much for the influence of Mr< iMcl&an tfcati.'i* tribe/jwhx), unlike * <their opponents, the Ngatiapa, have not been'; c(6n» sidered aa v great r allies ( of the pakeha, should thus restrain in-eir iwjjural 'impetuosity and defer to. the opinion" of, the European* .neighbour; oi tae^ MuopoUb,.,!^' pf|iapa;of Ngatiraukawa, furbished, up^ their tdo'uble--and single-b^rrfi^ed : gffps;and'aro building i pa '4qi?>}th«- defence, ol^thab womoa,,aad children should Hunia meditate an attack in th*t direction. Guard- is kept at nigh*-, and , eve^^^itiliibaittßiSi^fw^etibf'tiarpridi*. ' ItwM^rt«d.thJk^^tiap^ «^ <axa^ inty

Enfield rifles, the property of the Government, lent to them when fighting against the Hauhaus. It ia certain they are well armed, .and a day or two Subsequent to the burning of tho whare some of them went to Rangitikei and returned with a number of rides Hunia hat a needle-gun, which is said to have oost him £15. I am awfully puzzled where he got it from, when I know the" present laws regarding the sale of arms to natives. The land in question originally belonged to the Muopoko, who were conquered by the Ngatiraukawa, under the leadership of vVhathanui, who saved their lives, and marked out a portion of land for them to live on. They were thus, according to Maori oustom, slaves of Whathanui, and all their land became the property of the conquerors, who were behaving with a leniency and genarosity unfrequent among Maoris in saving their lives and giving then? land to reside on. The land given them -had well-defined boundaries laid out ; but, encouraged, no <?oubt, by their success in Rangitikei, the Ngatiapa, who ate' related to the Muopoko, now wish to get back all the land taken from Muopoko by Ngatiraukawa, which is held and in the occupation of Watini and other descendants of Whathanui. For some years past Ngatiapa have been very insulting and bounceable towards their old conquerors, the Ngatiraukawa, and there ia no doubt that now they are well armed they would like to repay them for all the indignities and defeats received at their hands in former years. Major Edwards was at Horowhenua, on the part of the Government, last week, and Ngatiapa spoke very fairly, and seemed perfectly satisfied to leave the matter to arbitration ; but the same evening that the Major left they threatened to dig up the body of old Whathanui, and burn ifc. Thus the matter stands. Ngatiapa and Muopoko, in their pa at Horowhenua, say they mean fighting, and will have the land. Isgatiraukawa, with grounded arms, awaif the decision of McLean, and refuse to give up land won by the bravery of their fathers. If 'Hunia and Kemp refuse to leave Horowhenua and submit the matter to arbitration, as is the wteh of Nejafciraukawa, then War between the parties is imminent if not inevitable. With regard to the strength of ,the two parties, it is very hard to decide, as it is very uncertain what tribes would be dragged into the affair. Ngatiapa have the advantage in arms, but Ngatiraukawa are or were the best fighting men. Ngatiraukawa are not so numerous in this part of the coast as they were, and all their old fighting men ,'are dead. They will have to contend with a different class of combatants to the fathers of the present Ngatiapa, who, as Kemp says, when Ngatiraukawa beat them, • had nothing but a stick,' and so the latter came from the North with guns, and swept all before them."