POVERTY BAY.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 8, Issue 607, 6 May 1865, Page 3

POVERTY BAY.

The s.s. St. Kilda, Captain Deck, arrived on the morning of April 23rd, having left Poverty Bay on the afternoou of Saturday. The Rev. Samuel Williams was a, passenger by this opportunity j alfeo, the chiefs Wi Tako. aud Mateno te Whiwhi, of the West Coast, with part of their followers ; several chiefs of Poverty I Bay, including the principal man of the 1 district, Hirini (Sydney) Te Kaui a Takirau j and two other chiefs, Auaru Matefce and Tamihaua. The St. Kilda has also brought a human head, which had been recovered from a Hau Hau party, and which is said by. some to be that of a set r tier in Taranaki j by others, to be that of a soldier of the 70th. It is in a state of perfect preservation, and appears to be the head of a very young man, with light sandy hair and au almost incipient moustache. We subjoin an account of late proceedings at Poverty Bay, written by the Rev. Samuel Williams, with which we have, been kindly favored by His Honor the. Superintendent, from which it will be seen that, finding his influence rapidly waning, Patara took his departure for, Opotiki on Sunday, the 16th instant, and .that, since then, a much better feeling has prevailed. Turanga, April 20, 1865. Sir,— l havo tho honor to inform you that the Hau-hap, which, up to the 31st ultimo, were fast "gaining ground, and only a week since were making use of very iusoleut and defiant language, have, to say the least, received a most decided check. Their arguments have been thoroughly confuted, and the falsehood of their statements with reference to the success of their party, as well as their unfounded claim to supernatural power, have been completely exposed. Kereopa had been so well received that he was expected at Makaraka, in company j with some of the Turanga chiefs, to have | his likeness taken, when the news of our arrival induced him to keep iv the back ground ; and r after threatening to gratify his cannibal appetite upon Wi Tako, as well as the clergy, he left the district on the sth instant, much discouraged and alarmed. Patara, who found it convenient to disclaim any connection with the Opotiki murder, and pretended to condemn Kereopa's proceedings, was using every means in his power to establish himself in the district, aud to push his way to the Ngatiparou at Waiapu, and the Rawakawa. The Taitanga-a-Mahaki Hau-hau were determined, in defiance of all that was said in opposition, to bring Patara forward at the Waerengaahika runanga ; but, upon reaching the spot on the 10th inst., and finding that the friendly natives would not meet him, they made use of most violent threats against all strangers and sympathisers with the government, and then retired. Most of them, however, returned on~ the J following morning, without Patara and the rest of the Taranaki party j and, at the termination of the meeting, it was evident that what had been said had made a decided impression, for- there was a marked change in their tone and manner. Several of them have since left the Hau Hau, among whom is Henare Ruru, one of their most influential men, who has openly denounced their proceedings. The manner in which they ran from Whakato when challenged to draw the Lady Bird on shore ; their failure in attempting to get the Eclipse ashore at Opotiki, as well as the failure of the Urewera and Wairoa party in attempting to draw the St. Kilda ashore at Whareongaonga, have been constantly cast in their teeth in not very complimentary language. Patara evidently 'found the ground breaking from under him, and he left Taureka on Sunday last for the Bay of Plenty. At the Whakato ruuauga the constant cry of the natives was, — " Stop the war, or every corner of the Island will soon be in arms." The reply was, — " How can you speak of peace when you have been encouraging people iv your district who are not only Hau Haus but murderers of innocent Europeans ? - Had you apprehended these murderers upon their reaching this place, and handed them up to the authorities, you would have distinguished yourselves, and might have expected a hearing." The residents again said, — " Stop the war and the Hau Hau will soon die out. It is only supported by sympathy for the people who are being slain, and forthe land which is being taken from them. As for the murder, let the Governor arrange that at Opotiki." To this it was replied, — " You are putting the cart before thehorse. First give' up the murderers and put down the Hau Hau, and then talk of peace.". The extraordinary amount of suspicion which was exhibited by many towards everything that hap! been said or done by the English, and a,s, to their ultimate intentions with regard to the native race, waa most painful to witness j but the testimony borne by the Otaki and Ahuriri chiefs to

i the truth of the istatemeut that it was not the wish of the Englishto exterminate the Maories and deprive them of their land, but that, on the contrary, a very kiudly feeling had all along been manifested towards them (murderers excluded), and that the government would rejoice at the prospect of peace if it could be secured <fti a satisfactory basis, — appeared to have a very great effect in restoring confidence and allaying irritation of feeling. After considerable discussion, it was arranged that if the Hau Hau were expelled from the district, a general meeting should be called at Ahuriri, as being the most central spot, to which the leaders of the tribes now in arms against the government should be invited to discuss terms of peace. But when Raharuhi Rukupo sided with the Hau Hau. at the Waerengaahika runanga, and urged that, if at the Ahuriri meeting the Governor should decline to make peace, all the neutral tribes should take up arms and join the hostile ranks, the friendly natives declared that a meeting called with such an understanding would only be an insult to the Government, and therefore they would decline having anything to do with it. I cannot speak too highly of the valuable assistance -which has been rendered by Wi Tako, Matenete Whiwhi, and their party, who came up with me iv the St. Kilda, in checking the advance of the Hau Hau and in keeping the peace of the district during the reoent crisis ; for there is. little doubt that, but for their presence and the 'exertions they have made, Kereopa and Patara would by this time have had the whole district under their command. Wirihana Toatoa has carried weight as expressing the views of Ngatikahungunu of Ahuriri, whom he represents. These chiefs would, I believe, gladly have apprehended the murderers, but, being unarmed themselves, with very little chance of anyreal support from the resident natives, whilst there was every certainty of the greater number of the Taitanga-a-Mahaki taking up arms in dofence of the murderers,' they were obliged to relinquish the idea. Since the departure of the Taranaki party, I have visited Taureka and datutahi, the head quarters of the Hau Hau, in company with Archdeacon W. L. Williams and some of the friendly chiefs, where we were treated with great civility. The people generally appeared ashamed of their late conduct ; aud, from the way in which the principal men expressed themselves, I am led to the conclusion that their attachment to the Hau Hau religion is not very deeply rooted, but that, on the contrary, its influence is already declining. From these considerations I am encouraged to hope that there need be no apprehension of any immediate disturbance in this district. It is only just to state, that there were some of the Taitauga-a-Mahaki tribe who were deeply grieved at the conduct of their own people, and who would, I believe, have been ready, if it had been necessary, to risk their own lives in defence of the Bishop and his family. In conclusion, I would remark that the fact of the Bishop having left the district, as he did under such trying circumstances, had a most salutary effect in inducing the natives to re-consider the position in which they were placing themselves, and was a powerful lever in the hands of those who were trying to expel the murderers from the district, and to put down the Hau Hau. I have, &c, Samuel Williams. . To His Honor the Superintendent. P.S. — I have strongly urged Hiriui Te Kani a Takirau and some of the other Turanga chiefs to accompany us on our return to Ahuriri, in order that they may have an opportunity of personal communication with the government, and of.visiting the friendly natives of that district. You will doubtless be aware of the high position Hirini te Kani holds among the natives generally, and the importance of keeping him as much as possible out of the influence l of the hostile natives, who have done their utmost to try and secure his countenance and support — having indeed communicated to him the proposal that Matutaere should abdicate in his favor. They have protested against his leaving the Bay, and the fact of his going with us will be looked upon as a great triumph, especially as no chief of his name has, for three generations at least, been allowed to leave the district. I have ventured to promise that the go- . ver n ment will give them a passage back to this place by any vessel that may be calling at the port. We also tako with us the European head which the Pai Mariris have been taking about the country ; also, the "doctor " who accompanied the party of Kereopa aud Patara from Taranaki, he beiug the only one of their number left behind, aud it was considered advisable to prevent the possibility of his continuiog to preach his pernicious doctrine.

It will be seen frem the above, aud from ' what is already known, to our readers, that the exertions of the Rev. Samuel "Williams and of the loyal chiefs Wi Tako and Matene te Whiwhi have been attended with all tho success that moral force can lay claim to. Public opinion has been turned against the Hau Hau ; and, after attaining a temporary success, they were obliged ignomiuiously to take their departure. The exertions of the West Coast chiefs have been acknowledged in an address from the Poverty Bay settlers, a transla- ; tion of which we subjoin : — 1 TO WI TAKO, MATENE TE WHIWHI, AND THEIR COMPANIONS. • Gentlemen,— We wish to express to you our grateful sense of the important services which you have rendered to this district during the ' three weeks of your stay in it. 1 Notwithstanding, that your own lives have been ' threatened, you have done your utmost to streng- . then the hands of those who' have been exerting . themselves to save this "diatriot from those troubles which seemed to be ooming like a flood ' upon it ; and under the Divine blessing your > efforts have been so far successful that the in-

fluence of. the. Hau hau" party has very considerably diminished since the "time of your arrival ; and Patara and'Kereopa have both left the district with their followers, having been unable to stand their ground against the opposition- whioh has bedn brought -to;heai*,against them and their pernicious doctrines. , -. May God preserve your own district from those troubles which" y'6u J have 'shewn yourselves so solicitous to avert from this. :.;,, , W. L. Willlamß - J. Macky .J. W. Haa-ia : ; •. • . E. Espie Jas. Dunlop D.JVtcllroy Jno. Harvey Jblin Tarr ; - Nathan Stafford Henry Tarr W. Smith Edward Espio E. H. Uren Alex. Eobb Thomas Uron James Wilson H. J.Uren G. E. Bead . John G..Steddy T. E. Bloomfield John Eye E. Read James Smith John Edwards A. Kempthorne

We regret to learn that, ih course of last week, two Europeans were drowned through the upsetting of a boat in the WaiweraWera river, Poverty Bay. Their names were G.Yates and T. Halibert, the former a young man formerly in the employment of. Mr., Browne, of Napier j the latter an old settler of the district. The details are of the most distressing kind. The boat ujis&t in a very shallow, but very muddy-pjart of the river, aud the unhappy meivsunk so deep in tho mud that they were unable to extricate themselves, and, ho assistance being' at hand, had to remain in tf_at position till death put an end to their sufferings.