THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 180, 10 June 1864, Page 3

THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND

lii n t tiio ciiuses of Hie nielancliolv afl'air at laur.-iima will ever, perhaps, remain a mystery, 1 nor uo tuMliinlc with those uh<> ijellevc tliatthe soldiers ol fhc pres-enf day arc less liardv or ilai'iiif; tlinn Ine men who f'ounlit at JJadajoz, or w Ik> I'ornied (Ik> army at Alliuera. so 111 n niliccntly described by Colonel Napier, when lie sins, 'Suddenly, however, tltey closed on their levrilile enciiiv ; ttiul then was seen with what a strength and majesty the ISritish soldier fights. In vain iliii Soult l>v voice and gesture aniinafe liis Frenchmen: in vain did the hardiest \ el era ns. ev 1 fheinselves from the crowded column, saerilice their lives to ;;ain lime and space lor the mass to ojien out on such a lair lield ; in vain did the mass itself bear up. ami. fiercely striving, fire indiscriminately 011 friends ami locs, while lite horsemen hovering on llio flanks threatened to charge the line. Nothing could sfoj) that astonishing ini'antrv. No sudden litirsl of undisciplined valour, 110 nervous enthusiasm, weakened the stability of their order : their eyes were bent 011 the dark columns ill their front : their measured tread shook the ground ; their dreadful volleys swepl away the head of every formation; llieir deafening shouts overpowered the dissonant cries that broke from all ]>arts of the tumultuous crowd, as loot by foot, aud with a horrid carit was driven by the incessant vigour id' the attack to the farthest id' the hill. In vain did the French reserves, joining with tho stimiltlt!iii.LC multitude, endeavour to sustain the litllii ; their eH'orls only increased the irremediable contusion; and the mighty mass, at. length tji\"inix way, like a loosened cliii'. went headlong down the ascent. The rain flowed alter in streams discoloured with blood, and eighteen hundred linwounded men, the remnant of six thousand unconquerable I'.ritish soldiers, stood t I'i lin i j .11 a 111 on the fatal hill." lint the battles of Alma and liilcerinann. rel't from a warlike nation, bear witness that those times have not entirely passed away. Ajiaiu in Scindc ; the lield oi' M ecane ; and the expedition to .Kinaiin (Uiur. when Ibr eighteen days the troops carried their w hole supply of water 011 camels through the desert, and when, the horses giving in the men themselves dragged their guns tiji steep, sand-hills. 111 a region the hottest under the sun. are evidences of ex t raortlinary courage, and of dilliculties ajiparent Iv insuperable that, in our time, have been overcome by a lew good men. when guided by commanders of genius, spirit, and activity, in whom tliey hail the fullest confidence. So it is now with the army in NewZealand, and whatever mav have been the cause of the untoward disaster til the (iale l'a, it was not tlie result of cowardice. The eon sequel ice of t bat remarkable expedition in Scindc ju-oved that t he conqueror of that territory was largely endowed with those qualifications: by it. he del rived the Ameers, at the very outset ot' the w;:r. ot" the just confidence tliey had in the liory deserts of their country. In his own vigorous style he writes to Lord Kilenhorough. "I had discovered long ago that the A nicer* jait implicit faith in their deserts, and feel contident we can never reach thcin there. Therefore, when negotiations, and delays. and lying, and intrigues <> f all kinds fail, they can at last declare their entire obedience, innocence, and humility, and retire beyond our reach to their desert, and front thence launch their wild bands against us. so as to cut off our c .liiniunica'l. .lis. and render Seinde more hot than nature has already done. So circumstanced. r ! made up my mind that, although war was not declared, nor is it necessary to declare it. I would at 1 nee inarch upon I'imaun (ihur. and ] rove to the whole Talj>oor family, both of J\ hyrpot's ami Hyderabad, that neither deserts, not- t heir liegol iat ions could protect t hem trom the Hritish troops. "While they imagine they can fly with security, they never will lie quiet." ."\liiv not we in New Zealand take a lesson from Sir Charles Napier? Though ilie Maoris cannet retire to a desert : yet tliey can. and do. retreat to 1 heir forests. Now in the first war at Taranaki. instead of endeavouring (as Sir t'luts. Napier would have done) to divest the native of his reliance as a place of rcluiie uj'oll a natural feat lire of his country, our generals never permitted iheir men to enter the forest. Theirs was an unsuccessful war. Ajul ours, at best, will but partially succeed. it' the .Maori is sulfcrcil to think himself superior in the bush. When, in the present war. a limited amount of bush warfare was forced ujion us. 111 absolute self-protect ion. how many Forest Hangers did we lose ? Aml w hen t lie iml eta t i gable .1 tick son. penetrating two or three days'journey into tlie depths of tlie forest between \\ arakana and I'aparata. surprised ami routed an aimed hand ol -Maoris. 1 xceeding his own niimbei. what was his loss? Not one. Since that day all conflict with the Maori in their forests has ceased. Are these tacts to be lost upon us r lle who said this war would only last three months, may now begin losee his error. The last t'alfre war lasted two years; and was onlv terminated by climbing the forest-clad mountains of Aniatola and (iaikas. and by driving the encniv out of the woodV ravines of the \Valer Kloof* Tho conquest of Algerian-warded the French with a Province of surpassing fertility ; but it was bought by eighteen years of incessant wartare; until at last, with an army of Ho.'Kltl men, coiistanllv reinforced, they ellected the entire subjugation of a race, not 'less warlike than the -Maori, better armed and forty times as numerous. in a connlrv b\- nature rendered dillicult ot access, whi-re each pass was disputed, each 1111uarv party ambuscaded, or swept away by a crow d ot'light horse, w here, with tlie changing seasons, and the varying elevations of the connlrv. the vicissitudes of temperature tire extreme ; where tlie snows of the Atlas seem almost to rise l'ro:n the burning plains of the Sahara. JN' 1:110.