PROCLAMATION.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 3, Issue 134, 14 April 1860, Page 2

PROCLAMATION.

By His Excellency Colonel Thomas Goes

BnowKß, Companion of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Governor and Conimander-in- Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same, &c, &c, &o. Whereas on or about the forenoon of Tuesday, the twenty-Beventh day of March instant, certain aboriginai natives named, Haneti, Riharaj Manahi, Minarapa, Mautaranui, Te Karira RANGntTOGA, Pene Tahuna, Ihaka te Aka, and- certain others, them aiding and abetting therein/ Sid foully,-wan-tonly, and with malice aforethought murder, or cause to be murdered, Henry Pasamore, Samuel Shaw, Samuel Ford, James Pote, and William Parker.

Now, therefoi-e, I, the Governor, do hereby proclaim and declare that the sum of one httndbed potjkds will be paid to any person or persons who will deliver up to Colonel Gold any one of the above mentioned murderers or their accessories : provided abo that if the person or persons or any of them so: delivering U P any of the above mentioned murderers shall have himself or themselves been concerned in tho said murders or any of them, or in any way accessory thereto, then and in that case he or they shall receive a free pardon. Given under my hand and issued under the Public Seal of the Colony, at New Plymouth, this thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty. T. Gobe Bbowne. By His Excellency's command

E. W. Staeeoed,

God save the Queen!

The Wonga Wonga arrived in the roadstead about two o'clock this morning from Wangauui.

No mail from New Plymouth having reached there for the last three weeks, some anxiety was felt to ascertain our. position. The Wonga Wonga will leave with the English mail for Nelson on Thursday morning, and then proceed to Wanganui.

Wednesday, April 3. — There was a general inspection of the 65th, the Militia, and Volunteers, on the parade ground, after which Colonel Gold, in a short address, complimented the Militia and Volunteers on the very efficient and cheerful manner in which they had performed the heavy duties the present difficulties imposed, and for their gallant behaviour in the recent action. They had, he said, defended this beautiful province and the Queen's authority in a most gallant manner, and their conduct on that day would be recollected in the province as long as that beautiful mountain (pointing to Taranaki) shall last. They had given the Maories the greatest thrashing they had ever received since the islands became a colony ; and he felt assured that, should another opportunity occur, the lesson would be repeated. Information reached town this morning that Mr. Arden's house at Bell Block had been broken into and ransacked, and every article of clothing, bedding, &c, carried off. The Tasmanian Maid came in from Waitara to-day, reported all right and returned in the evening.

{From the Correspondent of the "Auckland . Weekly Register.") Taranaki, March 31, 1860. In the pressure of business, I have not much time to devote to scribbling ; but as I pui'posed, I will endeavour to give you some idea of the state of affairs at the Seat of War.

In the first place I must tell you how much I am surprised myself at the sudden changes in the public mind from extreme cheerfulness to deep despondency. At the beginning of the feud all was buoyancy, confidence, and animation, which soon turned to mistrust and depression. Now again»it4&. confidence. The causes of these oscilations in the mental barometer have been the following : — The first burst of mistrust dates from the 17th, when it was discovered that Vm. King had built a pa on a wing of the disputed block of land, which caused some fighting and bloodshed to dislodge him, in which both the 65th and Volunteer forces were engaged, and came off seemingly the worst, having some killed and wounded, while the natives, as far as was known, escaped without loss. This naturally caused some alarm and distrust. The worst, however, wa3 the declared hostility of the Otomata, and some other fierce tribes along the coast, who it seems entered the lists rather from a pure love of fighting and plunder than from any sympathy with Wm. King ; in fact they and the latter_repudiate from one another. They were heralded by rumours of their bloodthirsty intentions, quite appalling, which they too literally endorsed by their arrival within five or six miles of the town, and on the 26th having caught, they- barbarously massacred three men and two boys, who had gone out incautiously in quest of stock. Now the residue of the outsettiers that up to this time remained by their houses, rushed into the town, and the panic was at a climax; even the high military authorities seem to share it, by their desire to contract the lines, and to defend a very small compass only j so it is not to be wondered that we poor mortals should feel a little nervous. It being still known, however, that a few settlers remained in the Otamata District — among others the Rev. Mr. Brown — the Colonel commanding the forces, with laudable anxiety for thiir safety, on the 28th, called together all the available force, both regular and irregular, including Lieut. Blake, and the Naval Brigade of the " .Niger," which have been disembarked here since the beginning of the troubles. They all marched towards the Otomata some 250 strong, under the command of Colonel Murray, to collect and escort the settlers in. But ere they got four miles out, they found themselves in front and warmly engaged with the enemy, who had posted himself in a strong position. Meantime, in accordance with a requisition from his Excellency, Capt. Cracroft, of the " Niger," had disembarked another brigade of his men, about sixty strong, for the temporary defence of the town. At this tune an express was coming in from Colonel Murray for reinforcements, stating that his force was too small to advance, and retreat would be disastrous. Capt. Cracroft was immediately called on to furnish the force, and he as promptly replied by putting himself at the head of his small band, and with a 24fi>. rocket tube, and a full supply of ammunitipn, was within an hour on the scene of action. His arrival was most opportune; much hard fighting.had occurred, and considerable loss had been sustained. Of the force that accompanied Col. Murray many were placed Jiors de combat ; of the small Naval force, its gallant chief lay dangerously wounded in the chest, and a favourite marine dying. The enemy occupied a strong position, a pa on the ridge of a hill, with a slope, leading down to a deep ravine or gully densely wooded, he made the most skilful use of his position. Skirmishers in crowds occupied the gullies. Guided by signal flags from the commanding pas, they knew the position of our men, and threw a destructive fire from every crevice, themselves but seldom seen. Col. Murray, with the 65th, the Naval force Under him,' and Volunteers returned the fire with good effect, as the sequel ghowed, but were unable to dislodge the enemy on approaching the pa, neither could they well retreat. Just at this crisis Capt. Cracroft arrived, and from an elevation surveyed the position of friend and foe, sent to inform the Colonel of his whereabouts, and of his determination to march direct on the enemy's strong hold— the pa. Here he drew up his small force and addressed a few stirring words to them, admonishing them to maintain the reputation of British sailors.- He then pointed to the pa on the opposite side of the hill where the rebellious flag" was flaunting, reminded them that it was held by rebels against their Queen, who had already wounded their Ist lieutenant, and killed their shipmate, besides many of their fellow countrymen. He then told them" he proposed leading them to that pa for revenge, and asked if they were ready to go. A prompt reply ran along the little line, " We'll go sir." He then proclaimed £10 reward to the

man who hauls that flag of rebellion down. Here an impatient movement showed that every one thought he would surely gain that reward. They now advanced, though it was late (5*30 p.m.), taking quite a different route to that occupied by the Colonel, but the most direct to the pa. Arrived within 800 yards they resolved to try the effect of the rocket, dragged so far with so much labour, and 5 or 6 were fired with good precision, some falling into the stronghold. Nevertheless, the enemy showed utter disregard of that form of attack, and Capt. Cracroft, as well as his men, soon showed impatience of such long shot practice, especially as the shades of night were closing over them. The rocket was now set aside, a small orce told off to protect it, the men fell in, and the order to advance was given. At this moment Captain Cracroft's aide-de-camp arrived breathless from Colonel Murray to say that he (the Colonel) was about to retreat on the town, and would advise.him (the Captain) to do the same, to which the latter was merely observed to soliloquise, " I purpose seeing the interior of that pa first." They were now within 800 yards of the position ; the road to it was very zigzag and uneven ; it lay across a portion of the ravine before adverted to. Here, too, it was very deep and densely wooded on both sides the road, and it required some courage to pass the ravine at that hour, where the enemy was known to lurk all day, dealing death and wounds. But, "fortuna favet fortibus" the movement was quite unexpected, and in the darkness, unobserved. After ascending this valley, the road takes a sudden bend and discloses the pa on the right side of the road, a tall gorse hedge on the left. Here the enemy, evidently surprised, collected themselves on the road. Puzzled to decide whether the moving figures were the residue of their men returning from the ravine, or an enemy they beheld, they stood irresolute. Steadily the small force advanced, the Captain at the head, without the least betraying themselves, till a sudden movement of the enemy shewed their discrio mination, now only about 60 yards off. The enemy bravely returned the fire, and two men of the small force fell, severely wounded. Iv a moment they were mixed in mortal combat. Of the enemy, some bounded through the hedge, some along the road, others into the pah ; in an instant not a Maori was visible on the road, save the dead and dying. In the pah, however, they shewed a resolute front, and not having time to load, used their tomahawks ; a poor weapon, I suppose, against rifles and bayonets. The sailors now engaged, and fought, we hear, like tigers, quite irresistible ; no single hand gained the flag, the object of their desire. At the word." charge," a cheer was given, a volley fired, and a ru3h made with the bayonet. The enemy now, like rats, ran into their pits, the men, blue jackets and marines firing in and bayoneting them till all resistance was overcome; and then, as promptly as he marched up, the Captain collected his men, and carrying the four wounded, and this now in the dark of the night, returned through the same path without so much as a shot fired after them, bo completely had they done their work. I believe Capt. Cracroft would have remained where he was, so as, if possible, to have made. the victory more perfect, but that he knew he was quite alone, the 65th and that portion of the naval force accompanying it having retreated on the town. This is considered a very gallant affair here, and perhaps the moat successful attack on record against the natives, as they have hitherto notoriously given us the worst of it, and here, up to this affair, have treated the military with contempt, and have spoken most disparagingly of them. Now they are all depression, and we correspondingly elated. They have fled far in the distance, some sanguinely say for good. Their loss on the day, first and last, was enormou3, some dozens of chiefs alone killed, and in thier retreat some 15 or 20 carts were laden with dead and dying. Some say it was a pity they were allowed to retreat or carry off their dead; and that if the bold stroke Capt. Cracroft raade had been followed up, the war would most surely have been ended. But the military authorities, and they I should suppose know best, say that they must have more force.

As for Mr. King he is quite forgotf en ; in fact, he is considered a pot lamb, compared to these savage wolves from the other side of the hills. It seems he and the company of the 65th on the waters are coming to a sort of accommodating or affectionate warfare, aud were totally neglected and sadly overlooked in these latter days 5 but if these savage.s are really gone, he will now come in for a due share of attention. Between carrying on business and carrying off arms, I have not much time for writing, but I will manage to send you a few lines occasionally. I hope you feel all properly guarded in the Capital, with your gallant Militia. .