The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY. DECEMBER 5, 1868. TELEGRPHIC INTELLIGENCE. LATEST FROM THE FRONT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 288, 5 December 1868, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SA TURDAY. DECEMBER 5, 1868. TELEGRPHIC INTELLIGEN CE. LATEST FROM THE FRONT.

Wellington, December 5, 11.54 p.m. Intelligence was received from Napier yesterday to the effect that the enemy's position was attacked on Wednesday. After a short and desperate struggle the rebels were driven in the direction of Puketapu, leaving 37 bodies dead on the field; 50 are kuown to be killed. Oue man was killed aud one wounded on our side. 2000 rounds of rifle ammunition were also takeu. .Te Kooti, carried on a litter, had leftsome days before, accompanied by 250 men. The Ngatiporous followed in close pursuit, and at the latest date were said to have overtaken him. The Ladybird uud Sturt, with Colonel Whitmore, were off the East Coast last night. He is ordered by the Hon. J. C. Richmond to land at Wairoa. | IJ.M, s.s. Blanche js in -sight of Napier. Amongst those killed in the last engagement were Nama aud Henere, reputed to be two of the niost bloodthirsty chiefs. More news expected. By the arrival of -the Airedale this morning" we team that the apprehensions of a native rising in the Waikato have not been realised. Although the outside world is uot well informed of what passes withiu the king's boundaries, it would most likely get rumored abroad if there were any gathering of armed meu for the purpose of attack. The news from Taupo and the inland districts is on th« whole very satisfactory. Cuprain St. George .{vfho has been sent specially from Hawke's Bay by the Superintendent, Mr M'Lean, to be stationed at Taupo in order to report and keep open a regular communication between Taupo and Napier) arrived at Tauranga a few days ago, and reports all quiet iu that district, with the exception of a, lot of sheep I'rom his run having been taken away by the Hauhaus. is reported as being quiet _at Opotiki, where the greatest danger is apprehended, ai^two or three days would take Te Kooti Jand-Jiis men from Poverty •Bay to Opsiik»j whero there is but a small force. , Wjbat renders it most likely that Opotiki will be the place to which the natives wilt turn their attention is the fact that, the Urewera, whose assistance Te Kooti has doubtless, obtaiued, have claims on the landsthat has been confiscated there. Heavy floods have lately visited Opotiki, ' doing considerable damage, and destroying a great portion of the crops. ; No news calculated\to ( .causerany alarm has been re-. ceiyedfVpm Waikato. A yery greatfeeling ©f l^^e_nsjoa refita^M^miads of the

of Attckland/^arising^ from knowledge of the fact that scenes such as have lately occurred at Poverty Bay might be enacted in Waikato. There is no use in endeavoring to conceal from ourselves the fact that the natives could clear the whole of the confiscated lands in Waikato. The last letters received in Auckland from the king's council have not. the slightest indications that it is intended to break the. truce that now exists in that district, but, , on the contrary, are of a peaceful tenor. These letters however assert, repeatedly and .emphatically, that the kingites have not given up a single inch 6f the confiscated land. A batfch of .Natives, to the number of 101, men, women ahd children, anived on the SOth uit, at Taranaki, in the barque Collingwood, from the Chatham Islands, to be followed by 40 or 50 more, who remain to settle up and dispose of their slock, whicli is considerable and in mostly sold to Duhedin settlers j the produce of which with the arrangements for leasing their lands there which have been effected for them through the Government, make them, if not a rich, at all events a very prosperous family. These last will bring with them the agricultural implements of the whole. They are. stated to be most peaceably arid industriously disposed. .; The Taranaki Herald gives a^eport of _ a native meeting, which took place at Taihua, near the Stony River, on Monday iast, at which the Superintendent, Mr Parris and about 20 of the principal native chiefs were present. v The- friendly chiefs generally' spoke instrongr terms of condemnation of any attempt being made to sever the present arrangements with regard to | the land. The whole turn of the meeting was favorable, and Mr Parris is of opinion that there is not the least danger to the settlers likely to arise from the natives at Taihua, and in this opinion the friendly chiefs who accompanied him entirely coneur. Patnra, an influential chiefj has issued a letter addressed to Maoris and Europeans, counselling pence, and intended to assure the settlers of Okato, Tataraimaka, and Oakura of the peaceful intentions of the natives. j We;glean the following war items from j the Hawke's Bay Herald of the 23rd uit, which says that the number of friendly natives known to have been killed by Te Kooti now exceeds 50, amongst whom are Himiona, Wi Pere, and nearly all the Poverty Bay chiefs, seven of whora were taken in Tamihana's pa, aud upon whom hideous cruelties have been perpetrated. These prisoners are said to have h-d their hearts cut out whilst living, and a great number have been shot at Pukipuki (where he is reported to be entrenching himself, great plunder and commissariat stores, sheep, cattle, &c. being collected there), on the plea that they had preyiously borne arms against him. Charlotte, a friendly female chief, had her eyes torn out, her arms cut off to tbe shoulder, her legs separated from the thighs. The native allies are much enraged, and can scarcely be restrained from attacking the enemy at once. The force was in gooel spirits, and Capt. Westrupp was awaiting the arrival of the Ngatiporous to take the field. Te Kooti has announced his intention to attack the loyal chief Ihaka Ngarangiona and his people in their pa at Muriwai, Poverty Bay. Ihaka, it seems, has about 100 men, an3 40 guns. 'He" and his men have been inspired by a local prophet; with the. belief that they can beat Te Kooti, and mean, J;o fight it out.' It has been, ascertained that at the massacre of Matewhero the murderers were gjiided to their bloody -work by natives who" were permitted to reside in .the district after the fighting in 1865, though known to be Hauhaus. Strange to say, the rebels have not burned. either -of the " two -churches, in their possessipn, ' .. '

.At the usual monthly meeting of tho Board of Education, held on Wedesday, Mr H. C. Daniell in the chair, being the last meeting before the .annual examina tion, Dr. Irvine. and Mr J. Percy were appointed to select the prizes, and the Secretary was instructed to write to them, and also to the Rev. P. Calder and |Mr; R. Lee, requesting them to accept- the office of examiner^. As Mr and Mrs Thorburn, of Waimea West, with two of their children, were proceeding lo town this morning in a hired vehicle, tbe horse whilst passing the gate leading lo Mr M'Rae's, on this side of Richmond, suddenly bolted towards it, breaking the palings, completely capsizing the carriage, and throwing the whole party to the ground with considerable violence. Fortunately, after doing this mischief, tho animal remained perfectly quief, and the whole party, though much alarmed aud shaken, thus escaped with no worse injury than some severe bruiser. The Hera, which is now loading at Port Underwood, will be the first wool ship of the season. She leaves in the first week iu January, having already 1000 bales .on hoard, and will "be followed by the John -Bnnynni The North German brig Emma, when about to leave her anchorage yesterday^ broke her main topsail yard, which was promptly repaired by an early hour the next morning, at Mr Thomas Freeman's yard, so as to permit of her departure to-day ior Chili. We hear that the skill and activity "displayed in repairing this breakage, considering that the yard is 42 feet loug, was much commended by Captain Jesselson. A very disastrous fire took place on Tuesday the 24ih uit afc Taranaki. The scene of the conflagration was on the north side of Devon-street, and commenced in a buildiug known as Bartlett's Boarding The wind was blowing strongly at the time from the S. W., and tbe flames spread very rapidly. Mr Lowry's house, adjoining Bartlett's, was soon consumed, also oue recently occupied by Mr E. M. Smith ; then Mr Cudd's furniture warehouse and grocery store fell a sacrifice, with Mr Watson's building and workshop, (uninsured) property being destroyed to the value of £4000. The fire then took Mrs Smart's house i'n Liardet-street. On the other side -of" Bartlett's the fire consumed Mr Hoby's photographic gallery aud a small house, when it was stopped by pulling down a small shop. The value of property destroyed is estimated at 10,000/, covered by insurances amounting to ouly 2050/. The origin of the fire is not kuown, aud the house it commenced in was uninhabited at the time; An inquiry was held on the 27th ultimo, when the jury returned a verdict to the effect that the premises were wilfully set on fire by some person or persons at present unknown. The Lyttelton Times says that, with reference to the claims sent in by Messrs. Holmes & Co., the railway contractors, on the 3rd of August, 1868, for £10,249, the Canterbury Government have written to say that, having carefully considered their claim*, and having used their best endeavors to obtain every information bearing on the subject, they have come to the conclusion that they would not feel themselves justified in recommending the Provincial Council to make an appropriation , for the payment of any portion of those ' claims. The Court of Appeal, in its judgment in the case of the Bank of Australasia v. Reid and others, has settled a pointof great importance to mercantile .men, aiid oae concerning whjch considerable difference of, opinion has existed amongst the members of the legal profession. In that: case a bill was. drawn and accepted without having been stamped. Subsequently the drawer of the bjll endorsed it to the bank-,

and upon its delivery the accbun'tant of the bank affixed the usual bill-stamps, and cancelled them by writing across diem the name bf the drawer and the date of de- i livery. The bank sued the acceptors, who set upas a defence that, as the bill was not stamped at the'time of aicceplance the plaintiffs could iiot enforce ifcj and that'the stamping of the bill by tlie accountant was illegal and inoperative. The Court however, after argument, decided that, although everyperson drawing, accepting, or endorsing an unstamped bill renders himself liable to a penalty of £50,;yet the holder of an unstamped bill may affix and cancel the necessary stamps, and upon his doing so may successfully sue the parties to the bill. The present number of volunteers iu New Zealand, according to estimutes laid before the General Assembly, is 4,967, the numbers in the several provinces being as follow:-~Auckla"ud, 903 ; Otago, . 874j Wellingtpo,'B66-; Canterbury, 833; Westland, 693; Nelson, 413 ; Hdwke's Bay, i 139 ; . Taranaki, 113/j Southland, IS3 ; Marlborough, 0. The capitation grant allowed in the estimates for this year, treating cavalry and infantry alike, is 255. which in the case of the latter is only half of the sum allowed last year, atd wliich was then found- to be considerably insufficient io meet the expenses incurred by the men. There is a feaiture now introduced iuto the Wellington. Museum which deserves notice, and will interest all who are partial to botanical studies. The various native shrubs, as they flower, are being exhibited labelled with their native, cornmou, and scientific names, and such other information as is popularly useful. The Lytteltou Times states that a supplement to the New Zealand Hymnal, for the Use of the Anglican Church, has been recently compiled by a committee appointed by the General Synod at its late session. -The members of the committee, nine in number, were -actively Engaged in this work during the fortnight which followed the breaking up of the Synod. - The supplement will contaiu upwards of 80 new hymns, taken from Sir Round el I Palmer's Book of Praise, and other sources. It is to be published immediately at Auckland (price 6d).Afc the annual .distribution of prizes at the Sorbonne, Paris, at which the Priuce Imperial presided, the following seene occurred: — Young Cavaignac was announced for a prize amidst formidable applause. He is a student of 16, and son of the Gene- - rai Cavaignac who was pulled out of bed and thrust into Mazas prison on the uight of December 2. He was called forward to receive his reward from the hands of the Prince Imperial. The student refused to move; his mother encouraged him not to stir j and the students cheered him frantieally. Last year young Cavaignac did not hesitate to receive his prizes from M. Duruy, but would not approach the * Mau of Bloody December. ? . A fearful accident recently happened at ■a coal-depot, Sunderland. The victim was a man named Bernard M'Guinnoss, a coal cartraan, aged 74. He was about to take a horse to Newcastle for sale, and attached .it to a laden coal-waggon, and endeavored to make it draw the load, but could not. M'Guinness struck the' horse with his whip until the pain caused it to start forward, and he was knocked down with his head across the rail, and the wheel of the waggon passed over his neck and killed him on the spot, his head being nearly severed from the body. The fatal termination of the deceased's life had often been foretold by his neighbors. It was no unusual thing for him to lock the stable door and beat the animals until their cries aroused those who lived near him. Few dared to interfere owing to his blasphemous language, but many said that his cruelty to dumb animals would meet with an appropriate end.