The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XIII, Issue 777, 18 April 1860, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times.

. ." Wednesday, April 18, 1860. In the absence of any ■•/ special correspondent from the seat of war/ whose power to render an unknown scene familiar equals that of Mr. W. H. Russell, we find it almost impossible to furnish' our readers with a clear detailed and intelligible account; of the ' campaign against the natives in Taranaki. By the help of private letters, and interpreting the obscure parts.of one narrative by the details of another,; we can, however, arrive at something; like a general idea of the occurrences during the month of March, such as may help us to a better understanding of further accounts. The position of the town of Taranaki should be recollected, in order to follow—we cannot say: the plan of operations—but the train of circumstances which from time to time gave rise to the different movements of armed Europeans against the insurgent natives. .;'•" Taranaki has a. sea line running; about North and South, approachable by vessels at the town of Kew Plymouth, abo»ttilo centre of the line, n"^ at cue Waitara stream at its northern extremity. The settled districts are - —that round the town in the centre j that called the Bell district between the town and the Waitara on the north j , and that, called the Omata district on "the south of the town, About eight miles north, and eight miles south of the town include the whole scene of the operations; while on the east the forest forms a barrier like the sea, at no very; great distance from it. The open country is undulating, broken by small, ravines, well intersected ; by thick gorse hedges of English origin, and dotted over with clumps of scrub and brush in the less settled parts. There is a road down t>he centre of each district to the north and south j and the extremes are reached •also by the' beach^whicb. offers a capital road for, horsemen to the Bell and Omata villages. ; "-■':

; There are native pahs close to the town, of which Eata-pihi-pihi, mentioned in the printed accounts as being occupied by the traitor Manahi, is one, and lies to the east of the town towards the forest. The pi'incipal stations of the Maories with which we have to • do are : first, that to the north, where Wiremu Kingi endeavours to hold the disputed land on the Waitara; and secondly, that to. the south, at Omata, where the men of the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui tribes committed five abominable murders arid tried to intercept the' Europeans who were going to rescue Mr. ' Brown's family (two or three miles further south than Omata village); and where those natives ; were so splendidly repulsed; by the volunteers and so vigorously pummelled by the gallant, Captain Cracrdft and his seamen. The first portion of the history of the war, which we received by,the previous mail, concerned Wiremu Kingi and the northern district alone ; that which we received on Thursday; by the Wonga Wonga chiefly concerns the southern district, and natives who were riot; under Kingi's superintendence. "< It was on the 17th of March that the new pali erected on the Waitara was bombarded by the troops till then 1 ammunition was gone; and it was on that night that the natives therein were allowed to walkoutj after which, next morning, the capture of the pah was easy enough. The effect of this bombardment, it is said, was, to terrify ,the. natives,; without •hurting them much. - W. Kingi removed with his men to other pahs in the vicinity (called in the accounts ' Hapurbua's') arid appears to have contented himself for the rest of the I month with collecting reinforcements; for we hear of no further movements, either by

natives or Europeans, on the Waitara. The enemy encompassed the settled districts on every side but the sea; and the flame, ceasing in the north, quickly broke out on the east and south.

On the twenty-third of March,. Manahi, who lived at Rata-pihi-pihij within four miles of the town, and who had professed friendship to and received protection from the Europeans, turned traitor with his followers, abandoned his pah, and went off to join Kingi. This must have been a severe shock to our countrymen; enemies were plentiful before, and friends were few enough; there was no loom for treachery and desertion.

The place so close to the town, which Manahi left, was soon filled by avowed enemies—belonging to the Taranaki and Ngati;ruanui tribes—whose force was estimated at about a thousand men. These men had come from the South and were about to join Kingi ; but as they passed the town on their way, it appears that their force stopped there, for a time at least. On this point, it is affirmed that these tribes had arranged a simultaneous outbreak long* before with Kingi, but that the latter had come to blows before 'they were all ready. It may be assumed therefore, that these gentlemen, finding* themselves somewhat disappointed, were the more ready to go to work, when they did begin, on their own account. The Taranakis and Ngatiruanuis were so well pleased with their location that they did not' proceed at once to join Kingi (a few: miles to the north) but built themselves a new pah; and encompassed the town itself. Others, to the number of 50Q or 6100, were soon reported as having* arrived at Omata, where their effects were soon apparent. . ,

The beginning of the attack by these newly arrived assailants was a melancholy one. On the, 217th : March, five Europeans, three men. and two boys,-were caught going about their avocations in the Omata district, and murdered ;by the natives.. -There were. still some English families belonging to this district who had not sought shelter in the town, and an expedition was quickly organised to escort them into safety. One of these families was that of the Rev. H.H. Browne, of whom mention is so often made.,

The rescue party consisted of about 140 of the organised volunteers and militia, a light company of -the, 65th, and 25 blue jackets under Lieuk Blake j it started oh Wednesday the 28th March, and was commanded by Oolonel Murray. The route to be taken led past the pah which the natives occupied at Omata, and past a stream called the Waireka, between the village of Omata and that pah. The Waireka, on its way to the sea, passes through.some broken ground, and is bounded by bush,! scrub, and brush, in patches. The country about is fenced off in paddocks arid is well sprinkled over with houses of the settlers; it is approachable by the beach and by the main south road, running parallel to the beach about two miles' distant. The native pah is on a hill close by the road.

The soldiers and blue jackets went along the road; the militia .and volunteers along the beach, till they reached the Waireka; The enemy was here, and a fight began which turned out to be a very important action. It was carried on by the militiu and volunteers, assisted by the blue jackets, the regulars keeping a respectful distance. The civilians;kept up the battle with immense spirit; and ; had any. effort been made by the military there is little doubt that a splendid success would have been achieved. Colonel Murray did lend a small party of the 65th for their assistance; but as soon, as more help was. wanted this small, party, was recalled! And when the natives surrounded the settlers on three sides, and the ■ latter were gettingshort of ammunition, a messenger, sent to Colonel Murray to; tell him what a very critical •; position they were in, found that spirited commander retreating to the town. No assistance, no ammunition, and no help even to aid the civilians in a retreat, was fuiv: nished by- him. ; What the consequences might have been is scarcely doubtful; the militia . and volunteers^ with ail their bravery, could scarcely have hoped, without ammunition, to repulse four times,',their number of natives; and at dusk that;evening* very little hope could have,remained to them.; Happily for them and for the honour of the British flag', Captain Cracroft arrived in the' evening, with fifty men from ; the Kiger, shelled the pah from the road, stormed it with cutlass and revolver in hand, cut down numbers of the insurgents, arid called off the attack from the gallant band, of settlers on' the banks of the stream below. These fine fellows knew nothing of. their safety till, after taking every care of their, wounded' 7; and finding that the afire slackened/ they crept cautiously away at night and found the enemy gone. Getting home to the town, they1 , found a rescue <■ party coming out to succour them.. ■■ ■ ■,':• "- ■ :.-• •• ■'- :•: •' :i:"'".;';'''' ■■ -]''■■'* •■-i-"' ■■ ! .This splendid, achievement of ; the settlers and blue jackets, in spite of: the soldiers, resulted in a small loss to the English, three

killed and eight wounded; but in very severe loss to the natives, about 100 being killed, among* whom were a number of their chiefs. From the latest accounts we infer that the survivors plundered the deserted houses of the settlers, and set off again to return to their own homes in the far south. And no doubt this defeat will have, a severe effect upon the Wiakatos under W. Kingi. Mr. Browne's and the other families at Omata were safely brought into town next day, when also the Niger amused herself by ishelling some native pahs which could be 'reached from the water. I When our news left Taranaki; there had ibeen no fresh movement at the Waitara, nor !any thing of consequence elsewhere. Several women and children were removed to Nelson. , In consequence, however, of unpleasant information from Auckland, the Governor, Colonel jGould, seventy men of the 65th, and all the bluejackets left Taranaki for that place on ■the 6th of April. ; It is to be hoped that the force thus removed will be sufficient to put Auckland out of danger, and not; too great for the ultimate safety of Taranaki. ] We cannot read over these accounts of the struggles of our fellow-colonists in the North, of their gallantry in spite of overwhelming ■numbers, without feeling a strong desire to go up and help thenoi. Otago, we learn, is furnishing a corps of volunteers for Taranaki, and will send them up by one of their steamers. We feel confident that if the lead was only taken in this province, a valuable band of auxiliaries could be raised, ready to fight side by side with the Northern volunteers. The. j men of our blood\have the warmest sympathy of this province with them in their difficulty and distress; let them have-also j our active practical aid.