THE RELIEF OF MOHAKA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume VI, Issue 1705, 10 May 1869, Page 7

THE RELIEF OF MOHAKA.

THE MARCH FROM NAPIER. THE FINDING OP THE BODIES OF MURDERED 3E3?rijEKS AND FRIES DUES. The following extraots, from a private letter received by a gentleman in Auckland from hie eon at Napier, have been kindly placed at our disposal: — Napier, April 19. Since my last, we have had etirrins: times here. On Saturday la»t we got news that Te Kooti was in force at Mnhnkn, and that he had taken one pa, killing nil its occupunta, and that ho hud, oh his way, murdered some eettlers and about forty fii-mdly natives. On Satuiduy morning, at daybreak, the birgle was sounded, and all our men in town mustered. We wero told to be ready to march at ten o'clock. There was no exception. Every available man was taken, and most of the places of ■ business and 'the banks were closed. Business was, indeed, quito suspended, and, fortunately, everything went right during our ab eenee. It was finally agreed to open 3urinii"»nrabhilf an hour a-dsy, to prevent any gu the hanks for has been the arrangement for the-past week. Tho miii'ia and volunteers (foot) were mnrchod out to Putene, atoul eoven miles 6;it of town, nn-i iny troop pushed on fur the Front, which wo reachtd euily on Tuesday. We found, on arrival, that To Roo'i had foiled to tike tho 1 irgor p», whioh had boen aallantlv defended by..a few men and women, and that ho hud retired on. bur approach lip the v.illey n fow miles. That night wo occupiod the' pa, having haQ thu honour lo be firrt on the ground, and 1 ehull never forget the weary. h : '>«rs between dark and dayhreik. We wore lipall night in the trenches, every moment exppcling an .'attacW. The Hanhiiui camo down as»ain within aehort distance'of us, iini ln»ld a " taiiKi" over their dead. Wβ diftinotly he:rd their unearthly howling.i, nnd wnre constantly on the lookout. The scene was frightful. At a short distance, the smaller pa, which Te Kooti had taken, was burning, and in i'. wore some dozen bodiee of its defenders shot in cold bbod.'and some of them burned. Bodies vrer* lying all rjund with only a few inches of duet over them, most of them only partially covered. At daybre'ak wo found that the brutes had again retired up the valley, »nd dm ing ihe day a party was formed to reconnoitre." <]n proceeding up the-valley we came.upon the' friendly natives murdered by Tβ Kooti on his way down (nearly 40 of them), in all poeitions and fearfully mutilated. We also found the bodies of Mr. Lavin, his wife, and three children, and Cooper, a settler,■ all mangled in a dreadful, manner. The sight was an awful ono, and some of our. men sickened at the awful atrocities. Neither men,' women, nor chMdrpn were spared; and outrages per-] petrated whirh we did not even like to think of, and which must ever he nameless. We got within two, miiea of his position, but as ho was in force, and we: ' were short of ammunition, we did not care to risk an attack with our email number. Accordingly,, we retired into the pa, and awaited orders.* Meantime, a ' forco of Mounted Oonstabiilary camo up, and ns we could do little' more good, and fimo was an object to us all, we received orjers'next day to return to Napier: We' arrived in town on Friday la»t, after boing almost cobstau'ly on'thfl nmreh,' over some of the worst country in this island for five days. The mon and horses stood it eplencHdly.'and we have been highly; complimented by the War Office. We certainly) saved the large pab, and kept the position until reinforcements arrived, and frequently ran great risks of being cut eff altogether. Jt was an anxious timo for us, and more bo forthe people ill town who had an. alarm during our absence.' ! We are now quite on a war Tooting ; the militia (till itationed at l J ftt«ne', and Hconle out in every direction. 'The next- few weeks will be eerioue time for us all, a> the natives are reported to be coming' nearer. Nothing ia thought of now but fighting, and'every man is a soldier. ' ; After the troops left the pah, on their return to town, an officer waa laft in charge with a part/ of ten or twelve, to bring in supplies,' and any people who might wish to leave.' This party overtook the troops wilh pnekhorene and nien, 'only two hours after their arrival at their first camping ground, after having como'through rain and thunder in the dark, over the woret part of tho'road. : We had eomo splendid men with us, and ,wero highly conplimented on our arrival for having brought everything-safe. It certainly was a fearful night on the mountains— so dark that we had to ioel our way with our swords, coming down cuttings where a mis-step would have sent horso and man over cliffs hundreds of feet high —the traoks slippery, and the mud where little streame crossod over our knees. Wβ frequently had to dismount and let tho horses smell their way, tying white rags to the tails to guide us. We were wet through, and had no grog with the excitement alore keeping Uβ w:irm and going ; never were lichts more welcome than the camp fires of our comrades when wo came in eight of them. ' We were cordially welcomed by the whole troops, arid were noon busy with our supper and " rum hot." .