WAIROA.

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

WAIROA.

By the St Kilda we have news from the Wairoa district to the 18th. At that time a large party of pai marire natives, said to be four hundred strong and to have Mr. Hewett's head in their possession, were within a day's march of Wairoa. Their mission was for the purpose of making proselytes, and they would fight, they said, only if interfered with. We trust, for the sake of puttirig an effectual-s top to the of these scoundrels, that they will be interfered with and that to Borne purpose. The government have acted in this matter with promptitude. Major Lambert, upon landing from the St. Kilda, had a quantity of arms and ammunition which were forwarded by His Honor the Superintendent, placed in a temporary building, under guard of the party of volunteers. He also selected a site for the stockade, which had arrived by the Mahia, and would be erected in course of a few days. ... Some of the arras were subsequently issued by Capt. Deighton to the loyal natives j and, on the 13th, the Native contingent, under the command of Kopu aud Paora, Wairoa chiefs, paraded with arms for the inspection of the Major. The party, which mustered nearly 100 men, expressed their desire to try their strength s with the Hau Hau, and prove their loyalty, tp the Queen. In addition to the. small; party of volunteers, between twenty and thirty resident Europeans have been enrolled and anned — making in all about 160 men who have been armed for the defence of the Wairoa district and the northern bou ndary of the province. A difference of opinion will arise, without doubt, as to the prudence of placing so many arms in the hands of natives, more especially in the present wavering state of the native mind ; but the government has every reason to place reliance upon the integrity of Kopu and the others, and experience has shewn us how effective in native warfare is a contingent of friendly tribes. So far, therefore, as human foresight extends, the safety of the northern part of the province has been provided for 5 and, without doubt, the prompt measures taken by the government, coupled with the visits of .the Reamer St. Kilda, will have a salutary, e'fre'ct on the uative mfaft. During tbterstay of the St. Kilda, the native chief Kopu had a meeting of his followers, ( when it wa^ to take decided steps against the Hau Hau, shouldlthey attempt any of their nonsense at the Wairoa j while Ihaka Whaanga, as we understand, has given peremptory orders to them to clear out of his district at Nuhaka.

On the 13th April, as mentioned in our last, the Native Contingent, under command of Kopu and . Paora, paraded with arms for the inspection of the Major commanding the.Civil Forces. Major Lambert, after inspecting the men, addressed them as follows-rCapt. Deighton, R.M., acting as interpreter : — * Chiefs of Te Wairoa. — I am highly pleased with the ; appearance of the men you have armedand paraded for the defence of the Wairoa, and beg most sincerely to thank you for the loyalty you have shewn and the promptitude with which you have responded to the wishes of the government in coming forward to support law, and order and to trample out rebellion. I will not fail to bring under the notice of His Honor Mr. .McLean the determination you evince to assist your Pakeha friends at this time. Should you come into collision with the enemy, it mil, give me real pleasure to assist you iv the struggle, and I can assure you that you will have all the support the government can give you. From what has been now done, you will see that the government can, when an emergency arises, be all there to support HexMajesty's loyal Maories. Kopu Pitiera, in answer to the Major's speech,' commenchig by expressing his satisfaction at the arrival of the steamer with arms and volunteers ; as it was shewn thereby that the Europeans were wishing to back him up in his endeavor ; tQ,: drive away the Hau hau and keep peace. "' ' It showed also that the Kawanatanga(government) acknowledged and appreciated his aciherence to' 'the cause of order. There had been a king, but he (Kopu) had always steadfastly and utterly ignored him. Now,- since the king was but a name, a new thing had sprung up called the Hau hau, which he also completely ignored. From the first, both in Ahuriri and Wairoa, he set his face against anything inimical to the government. He still stuck to these opinions and would die in

them, in[testimpnyof which he and Paora te Apatere had brought down* then* armed adherents. When the main body of the Hau hau should arrive in Wairoa,, he would go over and ask for the European prisoner. If they gave him up, well and good. He would also .demand that they return by ,the inland road — by the way they came — aud not by the beach. If they did not comply, they might get over Wairoa j safely ; they might get over Mohaka safely, but they would not reach Napier safely. Major Lambert,, in reply, thanked the chiefs for this expression of their loyalty, and promised that, for some time, a steamer would pay occasional visits to the district. The chiefs then dismissed their followers. •N

[from a correspondent.] April 19th, 1865. Since .my last letter,, in which I stated that the Hau Haus were expected to arrive, they have arrived, in greater force than I anticipated. Starting from Turanga probably about fifty strong, they-iave obtained many recruits from Nukutamma Whakaki, and I regret to say, from Upper Wairoa. At any rate, when they defiled down the hill to their quarters at Te Uhi (Kurupakiaka pah, about three miles from the Wairoa mouth) they numbered about three or four hundred men,mostly armed. They trooped down, a motley assemblage but quite sufficiently formidable as to appearance ; and erected a pole, the centre apparently of their future devotions. Such was their arrival on the north side of the river. . On the south side, the Volunteers (H. 8.) had previously arrived, and located themselves at Spooner's wheat house ; the settlers, alarmed but not intimidated, had determined to do then* best. Tuesday was ushered in with loud shouts, yells, and indescribable hubbub from the Hau Haus, who, discarding their pole of yesterday, proceeded to erect one much higher and more substantial looking, with a yard, and a number of flags bearing different significations : one, Henare te Apatere (a Wairoa chief who died some time ago) and others ;' one, probably illustrating a doctrine, another, a man, but incomprehensible to the uninitiated on our side, and apparently also to our chief Kopu, who in an energetic speech, at once proving his loyalty and his devotion to our cause, bade them open defiance, and in a few words remarkable for the suaviter in modo andfortiter in re, managed to quiet apprehension, and at the same time to convey at once the fact that we, loyal Maories and Britons, were not in a yielding humour. These few words were not spoken quietly as at a European meeting, where the Chairman calls men to order, but in the presence of an imminent deadly peril 5 for, brave and devoted as our natives are, it must be confessed they would have been much outnumbered ; but, confident in the righteousness of their cause and the ability of their leaders, they feared naught. All. through this day volunteers and settlerswere on the gui vive and determination reigned. Old settlers who never leave home, marched down gun on shoulder — Lares and Penates to. take care of themselves ; in fact, it was resistance born and matured in a day. Ultimately discharges of musketry took place from both parties, i.e., loyal and contra Maories firing in the ah* ; and it was understood that although still an attack might be made, Kopu's speech and the unflinching attitude of the whites, had produced an effect, — Buonaparte, the leader of the Hau Haus, saying that he would not destroy here, but elseiohere. So ended this eventful day. Wednesday brought us no mail; the contractor, Matenga of Nuhaka, having joined the Hau haus. Subordinate carrier, disgusted, goes to Napier and then resigns. To-night volunteers and natives patrol this bank of the river, aud to-morrow, or Friday, we hope to see the exit of the Pai Marires, followed by our own natives till they are clear of Te Wairoa. Thus ends, probably for the present, this interruption, from the disastrous effects of which we have been preserved, under Providence, by the fortitude and bold front of our volunteers and settlers, and the devotion of om* native allies, who in themselves have vindicated the Maori name and proved themselves worthy confederates. A steamer, supposed to be the St. Kilda, appeared off the river mouth this morning, but it was impossible to communicate owing to the heavy surf.

[prom another correspondent.] April 18, 1865. It would be difficult to describe the state of excitement and effervescence into which the generally quiet and peaceful valley of the Wairoa has been thrown, during the last few days, by the arrival of the large detachment of the Pai Marii*e fanatics which advanced hither on Monday last. All the conflicting sentiments of hope and tear, resolution and vacillation, have, as might be expected, been fully developed in om*. small and scattered population. Nevertheless (thanks to the timely supply of amis and other support afforded us by tlie Provincial authorities), the danger has been met and confronted by oiu* little society in a manner which reflects credit upon all parties, and is hi every way worthy of our British origin. Almost every male adult has enrolled himself in the Militia—- or at least expressed his willingness to do so had there been arms enough ; and although we could have desired (being so small a population) to have* been armed with a more modern weapon, yet we do not forget that some of England's .greatest laurels in tlie field of battle have been achieved by the aid of old Brown Bess. We are thank- . ful to the Government for their help and sympathy, and take it as an earnest of their further assistance in the yet doubtful and threatening future. i The great moral effect of the volunteer force and the sturdy block-house, both oh our allies and enemies, can scarcely be conceived : the encouragement derived ,pn the one hand, and the caution conveyed on the other, dre far greater than even a larger force could have effected under ordinary circumstances. In fact, to the good faith and energy of our Maori friends, together with the assistance rendered by the Provincial Government, we are mainly indebted for our present comparative security,

in thg face of a bloody and implacable enemy, who seeks to veil his rebellious and, ruthless objects under the mask of religious zeal. ' £_. ' the absence of our Resident Magistrate, wlkk was unavoidably detained at Mohaka for. two^ days by his magisterial duties, we have been f greatly indebted to the unwearied exertions of Mr. Locke, who has not hesitated to face any . danger presented by contact with the fanatics," and .-who, together with Mr. R. Deighton, must »have gone through any amounts of fatigue in hurrying from one pla.ce to another to bring into working harmony the' heterogeneous materials presented by our motley population.. Of the noble and manly bearing of Kopu, Taiapa, Maihi, Paora Te Apatu, and our . Maori allies in general, upon this occasion, it is impossible to speak too highly *. I can only say, in proof of my entire confidence in them, . and in justification of His Honor the Superih- \ tendent in supplying them with arms, that I should not hesitate for an instant,. did the. emergency arise, to place myself alongside of them and trust my life, and more than, my life, to their courage and' fidelity in the strife of ac- , tual war. In thi3 feeling, lam happy to say, v lamby no means singular. :;'..'..'-, ■. A little sketch of the proceedings of Tues- , day the 18th, will, I am sure, be read' with' interest by all the subscribers to the Hawke's Say Herald. I must premise by stating that the mob which arrived on Monday, the 17thi consisting of about two hundred fighting men, '■ with about the same number of women and children, came by way of Mahia and Nuhaka,' at which latter place they made converts of old Matenga and about a dozen 'others, and, but for the great influence of Ihaka Waanga, bur ever faithful ally, doubtless the converts would have been much more numerous. There may be now in our midst somewhat more than three hundred of the rebels with arms. Our friends here were fully prepared to receive them — with food in one hand and a musket in - the other. The fanatics affect to begin and > end the day with prayers and chants. On . Tuesday they made more than their usual amount of screams, yells, and shouts : . what they utter is mere gibberish, and thg. only word I could detect was "gloria:" they. generally , conclude with an extraordinary emission of • sounds resembling the noise made by the sudden disturbance of a large flock of geese. After decorating their flag-staff with about a score of flags, and marching round and round, edified by the gesticulations and mummery of the Tiu, they saluted the flag with sundry discharges of guns, amidst all sorts of cheering and yelling ; and then began the conference and speaking of the day. I send you hurried tranrlatiohs of the various speeches on either side, which we only received late last night. You must use • your own discretion as to how much of them you will publish. Already this letter is ofgreat length, and were I to write all I could say on the occurrences of the last few days, it would make a goodly volume. The finest speaker, beyond all comparison, on Tuesday, was our friend Pitiera Kopu. He combines in his person the attributes of a most gallant and fearless warrior,' together with a fiery eloquence which excites his auditors to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. I trust that, when the storm which now lowers over the Province. has passed 7. away, some signal honors will be conferred upon Kopu ; for, under Providence, we are in \ debted to him for escape from total destruc .' tion. Our friends wound up the day's business • with a war dance, which was performed with • an animation and energy that must have appalled om* enemies ; * and certainly did so excite the pakehas present, that I found myself' | with others gesticulating and dancing too. I For the present no imminent peril need be feared ; but the evil to be dreaded is from the continued proximity of the fanatics to the friendly natives, as their power of fascination : and seduction over the native mind is inconceivable. My own opinion is that they should., not on any account be allowed to make a lengthened stay here ; it wordd be better even to encounter the dangers of a collision than .; allow them gradually to sap away the loyalty of our friends. I omitted to state that the position of meeting on the Wairoa was close to the English and Maori Church, and that the oppasing parties were within a hundred yards or less of each other, with guns loaded and bayonets fixed ; so that, with the violent style of oratory and the occasional ferocious howls of the audience, . the performance was one of the most exciting kind I ever witnessed, and certainly one I shall .never forget. «

[from a correspondent.] April 20. !Ihaka Whanga arrived from the Mahia at the Pa pf Paora te Apatu, accompanied by Karamana and the rest of Wi Tako's followers ; also Paora Kaiwhatu and Karauria Pupil from Ahuriri. It was then arranged that the Wairoa .friendly natives, with Paora Rerepu's people, who had arrived from Mohaka, should, accompanied by the above chiefs, proceed^ on Friday, to Matiti, where the Hau hau had retired, to urge on them to leave the district ' quietly at once. The following morning, accordingly, ■ they all started, accompanied by S. Deighton, Esq., R.M., S. Locke, Esq ; and Mr. Hamlin. - On arriving at Matiti a halt was made, so as to give time to the different hapus to collect, which time was taken advantage of by the leading men to express their opinions on the present state of things, which were very strong on the side of Government ; and, after resting for about an hour and a half and partaking of some refreshments, the natives formed themselves into column to the number of about 250, and I marched to where the Hau hau were encamped, at the distance of about six furlongs. Before starting it had been agreed upon that none but the visitors should speak. On our arrival, :the natives, on orders being given, all sat down, and after a short time the Hau hau marched up in column, forming a fine parallel with the friendly natives, at about twenty yards' distance, and then went, through, some of their religious ceremonies, after which the question arose as to who should speak first, when Paora Kaiwhatu stood up and made a long speech, condemning the present movement ;. then one of the other party followed; then Karauria spoke after, in the same strain as Paora Kaiwhatu. When he had finished, Te Waru, one of the Hau hau, made a long and excellent

speech, much to the discomfort of the Ahuriri people. He asked them if they were not ashamed to speak, ' they who had taught all the people the way of the new king, who had supplied the Maori king with money and every other "necessary, and who were the principal movers in it throughout, to speak thus, — when Paora Kaiwhatu got up to explain that they (the Hau hau) had not followed what was I»ught at the Pa Whakaairo and Matahiwi ; what they, taught was to lean on both parties (holding up his two elbows), as in resting on two things at the same time, so that when one fell they still had the other to fall back on ; and accordingly, now the Maori King had fallen, they would look towards the Government. Altogether the Ahuriri natives did not shine, in fact had to cry small. „ Paora Rerepu then stood up and made an excellent speech on the part of Government, which none could answer. After a few more speeches, the meeting closed by a war dance by both parties. The Hau hau return inland on Monday to Te Waru's pa ; from there it is then* intention to return to then* homes on the Waikato, finding the loyal natives of this district too many for them.

..-.,' April 24. The Wednesday and Thursday following the eventful Tuesday were days of comparative calm. Mr. LeQuesne and his mate pushed forward with increasing energy and perseverance the completion of the block-house, which, I am happy to say, is now covered in, and presents the appearance of a very formidable and secure post. The poor volunteers must have felt the cold severely on the first two or three nights, lying under the canopy of the stars only; but all was endured without grumbling, and the men, under the spirited guidance of Serjeant Hodges, appeared well prepared to meet any emergency that might arise. In the meantime, our gallant and watchful Maori allies stuck close to the skirts of the Hau-haus night and day. Some of them, constable Graham conspicuous ansgpgst others, never had their clothes off or took any rest for several nights : their conduct has been beyond all praise. Mr. Locke and Mr. Deighton (since his return from Mohaka) have never failed to be present wherever a korero was held, or wherever a movement was made by the enemy. Mr. Locke really appeared to be übiquitous, for he was here, there, and everywhere — just the man to confront an emergency — a man of action, without fuss and without egotism. Our party was strengthened by arrivals from Mohaka, under the command of Paora Rerepu; and a stout contingent from Mahia, with faithful old Ihaka Whanga at their head. ■In addition to these, there were the people who accompanied Paora Kaiwatu from Ahuriri, of whom I cannot speak very favourably : they appear to be playing a fast and loose game, namely — to hokj, with the hare and run with the hounds. Of their real intentions and sentiments you will be able to form your own opinion, by reading what they said at the conference held at Matiti, whither they removed on Friday last. Matiti is somewhere about two miles up the river from their former location. , The Uriweras have this morning taken their departure for their own place; others of the fanatics have gone inland, and some remain at Matiti ; whilst the Tiu Buonaparte, as he is called, with about a dozen others, are returned to the pah near the Mission house, doubtless hoping to accomplish by fraud and circumvention those ends which they feared to attempt by force. Their undoubted object is to corrupt the fidelity of the Queen's allies. I trust that in this they may be disappointed also. : We ought not to have here less than a permanent force of from fifty to a hundred men, which, together with the Wairoa Militia and unsleeping vigilance on the part of those whose duty it is to watch over the welfare of the community, we may hope to pass through the winter without a catastrophe. '- By the way, we had an alarm last night, owing to some friendly natives on the Maori side of the river being drunk-and discharging their guns, at the same time crying out — " The Hau-hau's are coming." This, occurring on a dark night just as our neighbours had retired to rest, created no little stir amongst our scattered population. We roused up and issued forthwith our arms, the women and children making their way to the block-house, at the risk of breaking their bones or falling into the river. Such "larks" are very dangerous, and may eventuate in much mischief. The illicit sale of strong drinks must be stopped : it is useless to fine the publicans unless the other sources ef supply be absolutely cut off.

Since writing the above, I have learnt that ihe firing last night was not from the effects of drink alone, but actually to scare away a party of Hau-haus who were seeking to carry off what horses and cattle they could collect from the neutral natives. I regret to say that the vagabond hordes broke into the place of Messrs. Riddell, at Waikokopu, and took away about £40 worth of property. You will be concerned to hear that the fanatics have been most successful in making converts on the north bank of the river.

[FBOM ANOTHER CORRESPONDENT.] Wairoa, April 26. I have just heard from a native who came from Turanga last Saturday that everything is . quiet there, and that the natives have returned to their old religion, with the exception of some thirty, or forty (of the Whanau-o-akai) who still remain partially under the influence of the Pai Marire delusion. The Turajnga natives are very anxious for the Bishop and the settlers to return to their homes. The Wairoa has cooled down at last, and everything is quiet here, thanks to the Government for the prompt action taken by them in sending men, together with arms for the settiers and friendly natives. Ever since the advent of the Pai Marires amongst us there has been a mine ready for explosion at any moment -rrbut through the noble exertions of our rulers v the Province has been saved from bloodshed. ..'• Some people 1 , no doubt, have be.fn growling »at the authorities for arming the natives ; but • let such come here with their wives and families, and I assure them that they will see quite

enough of the natives' loyalty to stop them talking about the folly of placing arms in then* possession. '