THE SOUTHERN CROSS AND THE EAST COAST NATIVES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 56, 18 January 1864, Page 3

THE SOUTHERN CROSS AND THE EAST COAST NATIVES.

Wk have 1 H't'ti called upon by two i^eut liMnen v from Tauranga, on the Hast Coast. relative to an f artit-lo which appeared in Friday's C/vw.v. and c again in their IM-h/ ycir.s o(" Saturday. It 1 would appear that, our contemporary lias been t made the mouthpiece of an individual who, j having nothing to lose in that district, would be greatly benefitted by a, disturbance and the } quartering of troops there ; and who liiinsell, continually in hot water with the natives in his various cattle transactions, takes a very onesided view of matters. One of the gentlemen 1 who called upon us is a well known settler in i I'overty Bav, and possesses a large interest m ! the district, is in fact (he lathes:, cattle owner and wealthiest man there, and we can place implicit- conlidence in his statements. He says the statements contained in the Crnx.t relative to Poverty Bay are entirely incorrect ; that the natives in the whole district, are loyally disposed, and are not, lilcelv to join the rebels; and as to the statement " that the settlers would be glad to have •?>'otedion, would in tact give half they possess f< ,• it," that it is utterly untrue, for that they ne\ er felt more secure than they do at the present moment. I In continuation of this we were shown, by a. i Poverty Bay settler now in town, a letter which he had'received from a relative, also a settler in Poverty Bay. The letter is dated January 'Ith, and sets out bv stating that the district is perfectly quiet. Our informants were quite aware that,"William Thompson had been endeavouring to recruit men for the Waikato troin the Kar-t . Coast, representing that a great engagement had taken place in which 001)0 Europeans had I' been killed, with a loss of only 1-10 lUaoris, but t he was met with the simple question, " W hat dul he want with more men if all these soldiers had . been killed:"" The East Coast Natives, our informants say, do not sympathise with the ! rebels, but say that their losses at Panßiriri, and the imprisonment on board the hulk ot the re- ■ mainder of the garrison, serve them r.g it. i>e ■r will at all warrant.

Tin: Aucki.and Dispensary.—Tlio annual general meeting of the subscribers to this institution will be held on the evening of Tuesdayweek. the 20t.1i inst., at the office of Mr. Buchanan, the honorary secretary, in Canada Buildings. Baniciiuptcv.—A meeting of the creditors of Mr. Henry Smyth, of AVaitakerei, will be held at the oflicc of Messrs. Styak and Hunter on "Wednesday next at 3 p.m. Tendehs for the erection of a building in Queen-street, called for by Mr. Wriglcy, the architect, will be received until 4 p. in. of Tuesday next. Auckland I?iflh Volunteers. —The battalion will parade every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, at the usual hour and place, until further orders. Masonic. —The regular monthly meeting of the Lodge "Waitemata will be lield at the Masonic Hotel this evening at half-past soven o'clock. Auckland Itr.GATTA.—A meeting of tho Begatta Committee will be held 011 Tuesday evening next, at tho Yi aitemata Hotel, at 8 o'clock precisely, when members are requested to bring their collecting books, and the amount of subscriptions received, in order that an approximate estimate of the amount likely to bo collected may be arrived at.

Caution - to JJutciiuhs and Otiiehs. —A sharp trick. though an olil 0110 lit lionio, was practised 011 Saturday last, 011 an Auckland hufclicr. A lady called in the morning and left an order; the "hoy. a short time after, was taking the meat in'a tray up the barrack hill, when he was met by a vomit; woman, who asked him where he was going ; he replied at once, and the girl, casting her eye over the tray, said, " My mistress sent me down at once to fetch such" and such a joint , which she had ordered." The boy suspecting nothing, at once handed over the meat. 11 is needless to say that Miss Eve was considerably sharper in her generation than blaster Adam. 31K. Lkwisson's I'my.i: Cur.—Oll Saturday morning last the Silver Cup which Mr. F. Lewisson presented for competition to the best shot among the Auckland Kiile Volunteers was handed, 011 parade, by Alajor Campbell to private Soal, of No. S Company, the winner. Mr. Soal made a suitable reply, and stated, in reference to the former dispute upon tlio award, that if any volunteer thought he could make a better score, and would place tile value of the clip against it. he would give liim an. opportunity oi" winning it. I)katii or the Native Isaac. —This elnef, who was possessed of a large and valuable tract of land at Mangarei. i.s, we hear, dead. Isaac, our readers will recollect, was taken, under suspicious circumstances, at the commencement of the war. and imprisoned. When Mr. Lox canic into ollice. he was, it appears, liberated, but confinement and the loss of caste, which imprisonment entails on a Maori chief, so preyed upon him that he has, it appears, sunk under it. Otaoo.—About a fortnight ago it was whispered about town that the Uegistrar of Decds for this district. Mr. Michael Creagh, late a solicitor at Auckland, had been guilty of some irregularities 111 his department. It was rumoured that his chief clerk, or Deputy-Registrar, had accidentally discovered that his superior had for some time been practising a scheme of falsification of the cash-book, by which means various moneys, the property of the General Government of New Zealand, had been diverted into the pockets of the Registrar. As I have said, all this was rumoured, and more, but still no public proceedings were taken: the newspapers were liunn, ami 110 0110 seemed to care to talk about it. lamin a position, however, to give you tlio particulars The Deputy-Kegistrar informed Mr. Logic, the Sub-Treasurer and Collector of Customs, and steps were at one taken to inresti- ] gate the matter. 13ut Mr. Logic was powerless, and no one appeared to have the requisite 1 authority either to suspend or arrest the defaulter. ' At first, I believe, the 'accused turned t rusty, and refused either explanations or any- . thing else, but lie afterwards thought better of it, ■ and Talked about paying up. The upshot of the '• affair was that he got quietly away by one of the Melbourne steamers, and no attempt was 5 made to stay his flight. Since Mr. Gillies camo \ down, the accounts"of the department have been j investigated, and f understand the deficiency is sonietlung like .£2,000. It is rumoured that I steps will now be taken to arrest the absconder. _ —Correspondent of Aclsim Ji.riuiiincr, Jan. 14.