TARANAKI.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 211, 12 August 1862, Page 5

TARANAKI.

(From the Correspondent of the TT ellington Indepcndant.)

Taranaki, July 20. After an almost continuous fall of rain for upwards of two months a few occasional fine days have at last beamed forth to reniind us that there is still some fair sunshine !<>ft to brighten our future. The native news is still vevy exciting, the various reports of coming evil effectually preventing any attempt being made towards cultivation in the out districts ; there is scarcely even a solitary patch of wheat sown, consequently another year of unproJuction must pas 3 away. We shall now be much worse off and feel this want of means through the non circulation of the products of industry to a greater extent than heretofore.

To the present time many have been enabled to realiz-3 upon t!ie stock ieft by"the marauding natives, but how tae " gollen goose" is killed, and the contractors are obliged to import cattle to meet the demands of the Commissariat; and this causes a large amount of money to flow from the settlement. Prior Ito this unhappy outbreak Taranaki exported both I sheep and cattle, but now the case is sadly altered. i In my last I mentioned that a meeting was about to hi held by the natives of the South. It commenced on the Bth of July and ended on Wednesday the 16th, in a house built for the purpose, and called Te Taka Mauirand Tv Tcmgata Kirro. Thei'e were about COO natives present belonging to the Taranaki, Ngatiruanui, and Wanganui tribes; among the speakers were most of our old opponents. The assembled chiefs were unanimous in advising the immediate carrying into action the opinions expressed by the natives prior to the convening of the chiefs. They now declare that if the English attempt carrying* the road by making or mending- beyond \Yaireka, it will be considered as a tacit declaration of war. Their chieftanr.hips, moreover, have declared that a line shall be executed, surrounding the opesi banks of the town, beyond which no European will be permitted to pass ; any one infringing this law will be imprisoned as a trespasser until the required fine is paid. A short tiniebefore.the breaking up of the meeting, a Waikato chief, Mahi Te Rmva, rushed forward, loudly calling out Whitikil! Whitiki/U (gird yourE«lve3 up) when immediately all hurried to their quarters, and again quickly appearing fully accoutred with trim, tomahawk, and ammunition ponches. and commenced with the preliminary movement of the war dance. In this stage Mahi, with emphatic violence, delivered an address showing by the movements of his spear how he would sweep the pakeha from the face of New Zealand; continuing with his harrangue, he workel himself into such a pitch of excitement that, with his last shout of defiance to his European neighbours he fell dead. In all probability his death was caused by an incipient disease of the heart, brought to a crisis by over excitement. This is the second instance of an occurrence of the kind—at the rananga at Whatino in January, when a similar question vats discussed, Honi Kingi Ngatairakauni fell dead in the midst of them. Urown, the escaped prisoner, is still under the protection of the natives. Jouett and Sutton have again been warned to retire to the town. The Omata stockade had been strengthened by the addition of a working party of forty men, and another large force will leave town daily for the purpose of cutting all the underwood and supple-jacks some few chains on either side of the Omata Bush road. The body of an European has been found by the Maorieson the seashore atTaikatu, nearKaupokonni; the natives describe him as a tall man dressed in a' blue serge shirt, a swimming belt was lying by his side ; the body was buried and the l«lt brought to the meeting, with the intention of forwarding it to Mr. Parris, but it wa3 not allowed to pass the Taranaki "toll-gate." The natives who brought jup the news, assert that the belt had some letters | painted on it, in all probability the name of the ship from which the unfortunate deceased came. The Northern natives evince as much determination as ever, and aim blows at the Europeans through their friendly allies. Since the Matataitawa natives, as representatives of the king, have forbidden the . natives to take fire-wood from the Waitara district, Ihaia and Taylor's people have been collecting a supply from the beach and piling it in heaps; but his Majesty's representatives, in the'district, thinking i this an infringement on his Hoyal domains, have set fire to and consumed the whole. July 25. Sutton and Jouett have left their farms and returned to town; they were induced to take this precautionary step from the advice of a native, who nad been present at the meeting held at the South. He stated that since the kororo the natives had remained much excited, and the bad feelings expressed towards I the Europeans were such, that it would not be con-1 sidered safe to stay unprotected in such an isolated position. The authorities are of an opinion that there' exists no real danger. The proposed plan of cutting the underwood on the Omata road, has been given up, and a party is now engaged in digging a trench across the road, above the stockade, with the intention of patting a stop to the Maori traffic, whilst the road towards the town is undergoing improvements.