THE NATIVE WAR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 784, 18 June 1864, Page 5

THE NATIVE WAR.

RESUME OF EVENTS.

With the exception of a fight between the loyal and rebel natives in the Wanganui District, nothing of particular importance has occurred since our last Summary. We proceed to notice the principal events of the month. Shortly after the disastrous engagement at the Gate Pab, Tauranga, the rebels deserted their other positions in that neighborhood, which were afterwards occupied or destroyed by ihe troops. As the natives did not seem inclined to afford the troops much more employment during the winter, the greater part of the force end militia was withdrawn to Auckland, and the posts at Tnuranga were occopied by some of the Waikato Militia On the 19th May, our Wellington correspondent wrote as follows:— When I wrote to you on the 13th, I gave you all the particulars then known relative to the anticipated attack of natives on Wanganui town j and 1 gave reasons why a warning from friendly natives, under present oircumstances, required that all due attention should be paid to it, notwithstanding that, several similar warnings had duriDg the last year or two resulted in nothing. The mail of the 14th, from hence, will have put you in possession of the •' ChronicleV account of the steps taken to prevent the rebels coming down the river, and informed you th*t the natives openly friendly to the Government had been joined by others, by some of Pehis people aiiiontf the rest, never heretofore looked upon as likely to side with them; Pehi, although a King Thief, and one of the mo=t influential of the upriver Chiefs, has been all along very desirous to keep peace at Wanganui, though favorable to ftehtiDg at Taranaki; but from all that I can gather, this particular threatened a'tack and defenoe arises from religious causes alone. The Pai Marire, or "followers of the good Mary" as they impiously call th mselves, were full to the bung with fanaticism ; and bplieving themselves to be strong enough for anything, determined at once to attack the settlers, confident that all disproportion of numberSj &c, would be made up by the a gels promised to them by the Vijgiu. The natives who determined to oppose them seem, to some extent at least, to have been actuated by a contempt for the new religion, and consisted both of Queen and King natives. The determined stand thus made against the fanatics was thought litcely to prevent a collision, but who can reckon on what men (imbued with a belief that the go<is are for them, and their enemies doomed to destruction) will or will not do? The leader, Matene, is said to have eaten the brains out of Captain Lloyd's head, thereby rendering himself peculiarly sacred—au especial favorite among the favorites of heaven. All was prepared, and confident of success, they started from Piperiki, sixty miles distant from Wanganui. The 'accounts received are entirelynative accounts, and differ exceedingly. It is very difficult to mak6 plain their confusion, and the whole is liable to revision when the tru« version comes to hand. I wish, therefore, particularly to guard myself as being in any way responsible for the correctness of the details. The Government natives took up a position on a river islet which had been understood to be the intended field of battle. The landing of the Marire on it was to be the declaration of war. It appears to have been a sort of pre-arranged duel, the smallness of the numbers of the fanatics being made up bj the power of Gabriel or Mary. The Pai Marire came and landed, and according to one accouut then yelped Hau, Hau, Han, fora couple of hours. This word is the invocation for help from heaven, and is uttered in a yelping dog-like sound. They then rose and dischargtd three volleys on the Government natives before the fire was returned. But another account say* that one of the leaders of the other party, tCerete, fired on the Pai Marire three times before the latter let fly a volley in return, two statements directly opposite to each other. If they had not already landed as above stated (about which there i* a doubt), the rebels now did so, an, a hand to hand fight took place. The strangle proved the truth of the Great Frederick's saying, that heaven mostly lavors the largest battalion, and the Pai Marire, who numbered about one hundred and twenty, were defeated with great slaughter by tae Government force of 400, The number killed on the side of the rebels is said to be eighty, and the wounded twenty more ; while on the Government side there were twelve killed, and several wounded, but the exact number is doubtful. When further particulars are received. I think it very likely that the rebels killed will be materially lessened; but the fact of a great victo-y having been obtained is certain, and it will effectually tend to prevent the spread of the dangerous fauatisisin out of which the fight arose.

of the five lenders of t ve Government natures no less than four wore ki lei. Kereti was a catechist of the Rev. Mr Lampiller, a Roman Uatholio priest in the neighborhood, first in command ;he was the first to fall. Riwai belonged to Turakina, and his death will probably at once embroil his in and tribe. Of ApereDiko nothing particular is stated, but the fourth of the dead leaders, Heari, was formerly a violent kingite. Mete Kingi, a fine intelligent Patiki native, n very friendly chief, one who hae several times lately visited Wellington and been very active in inducing the Government to settle the Kangitikei land dispute, U the only one of the five unhurt. A French mechanic employed in the erection of a mill at the R. C. Mission Station was also killed ; he, with the Rev. Mr Lampiller having been in the thxk of the fight on the Government side. The Pai Marire also lost some of their chief men, among whom was Matcne, the eater oE the brains. Here Patene, the son of the old chief of the same name who wa3 killed at faranaki—a chief of oonsideiable dktinctton — was also shot, together with his uncle. Altogether, ir. has been a very serious affair for both parties ; but if the relative numbers killed are anything like correct, it is a far more Crushing affiir than even the late native fight at Maketu; and with it will do much towards cohvincingjboth set lers and natives that, however few there may be, there are, nevertheless, some friendly natives on whose aid we may rely. Subsequently it trauapired that the loss of the rebels wns not so great as at first stated. A little difficulty arose a3 to the disposal of the prisoners taken in the battle ; Pehi, the victorious chief, being desirous of retaining them in his own custody, but the Superintendent of Wellington, Dr Featherstone, who was at Wanganui, demanded the surrender of the prisoners to the Government, and insisted on hating them. Pebi wa9 in high dudgeon, and is said to have since declared himself a rebel in consequence. Immediately on the news of the outbreak of hostilities in Wanganui reaching Auckland, reinforcements of troops were despatched to both Wanganui an-l Napier, and Mr Fox, the Colonial Secretary, proceeded to Wanga vi to consult with the 10-al authorities as to tne best steps to be adopted. The whole able-bodied population of Wanganui wa* called out, and the town put into a state of defence. Mr Fox proceeded up the river and had interview* with several chiefs, and he also visited the head-quarters of the West Coast natives under Wi Taki. This chief, who has all aUng been a Kingite, and a source of great anxiety to the Wellington authorities, was, however, induced by Mr Fox to make a declaration of allegiance, which he did in the following torm : —" I hereby declare thrtt l will be a true Queen's man, and will bear true allegiance to her for ever, and will submit myself to all the lawful commands of the magistrates, and all who are in authority under aer

Majesty"—Wi Tako Ngatata." It may be accepted that the example of Wi Tako will, in all. probability, be largely followed by the Wellington natives, as he has always exerted a powerful influence for good or evil over them, particularly those on the West Coast. Should this prove the case, it will simplify affairs in.that part of the country, and leave the military authorities more at liberty to turn their attention to the country laying between Wanganui and TaranaKi, the natives of which district require severe chastisement. We understand it is the General's intention to organise an expedition for this purpose almost immediately, the operations to be directed from both north and south, so as to deal an effectual Wow on the scoundrelly Ngatiruanuis and Taranaki natives. As to peace, there is not the least sign of it, hostilities in Auckland having ceased simply heciuee it is a mutually convenient arrangement that they should do so for the present. But the visions of submission which were indulged in by the sanguine writers in the Northern papers, still remain in nulibus. It is barely possible that during the inaction of winter, some course may be hit upon for inducing the least violent of the rebels to surrender, and the line of conduct adonted voluntarily by Wi Tako may prove of much service in the direction of peaw.

The latest news from Wanganui is more favorable, and the alarm which had naturally been created throughout the district had to a great extpnt «"bsiri"rt "id the settlement was in a perfect condition, of defence. i* otliing of importance has occurred at Taranaki. Reference has been made to the singular fanaticism of certain of the Wanganui tribes, who have embraced a most absurd superstitious belief. It was these fanatics who so rashly resolved to attack the Wanganui settlement, and who were so severely beaten by the natives upder Pehi. The following is an account of this absurd superstition:—On the occasion of tha fight at. Ahuahu, Captais Lloyd's blood was drunfc- by the natives that killed him, and after having finished their orgies, they cut off his head and buried it. Next night the archangel GabrieUs said to have appeared to those who had partaken of the blood, and desired them to disinter the head and dry it in the old Maori fashion, in order that the Captain's spirit, speakiig through the head, might become the medium of communication between the Almighty and mankind, and be carried through the island as a banner under which a crusade against the pakehas was to be preached. This vas accordingly done, and the head is asserted to have spoken snd propounded the new creed, as wsll as appointed Te Ua, of Ngatiruanui, Hepanaia, of Taranaki, and Matene Rangitauira, of Wanganui, as its chief priests. The following are the principal aiticles of the new faith. Its professors were to be called •' Pai maire" (good and peaceable), and the word "hou," pronounced short like the barking of a dog. was to be their sacred watch word, the rapid utterance of which would ward off all dauger, even to the extent of causing edged weapons to glance from their bodies in battle, and, bullets aimed at them to change their course and rise into the air, The pro.elytes were to be initiated by drinking water in which the head had been dipped, or which had been poured over the head, and took an oath to destroy every white person without any distinction of age or sex, till »ll are killed or driven from the land. The professors of the new faith were to be under the special protection of the Virgin Mary, who would be personally present^among them; and they were to assisted in their task of driving out the 'pakeha by the Arch-angel Gabriel and hosts of angels, and as soon as thu task was completed, thes9 heavenly messengers were to teach them all arts and science J known to the Europeans. The professors would_ be en abled to learn English or any other foreign lapguage perfectly in one lesion, by observing certain forms, namely, standing for a given time in a certain position, under a flag of a peculiar color and pattern, hoisted on a flagstaff of certain dimensions. The priests claimed to have acquired this power, and ;Matene lately, when at Waitotara, got possession of a piece of newspaper in whioh some article purchased in town had been wrapped, and pretended to read it aloud in English, and afterwards tranalate it; and performed the cheat bo adroitly, that one of the Waitotar* assessors present- a very intelligent native, who from bis boyhood has had intercourse with Europeans^was deceived into becoming a convert, and hassiace been deprived of his office in consequence. All the European creeds were to be regarded as false, and done away with. All bibles and other books relating to them were to be destroyed ; the observance of the tiabbath was to cease, [all days being regarded ns holy ; and marriage and its obligations were to be uispensed with, in order that the race of believers might mc ease the faster, and become as the sand ot the sea in multitude.

The fact that the extraordinary powers promised have not been conferred was accounted for by its being necessary that the head should first visit the whole island. How far the professors of the new creed and its priests have been self deluded it is hard to say: but the death of two out of the three leaders (Hepanaia at Wentry Hill, and Matene at Moatoa) may cause the delusion to die out. Nevertheless the importance of seijing Capt. Lloyd's head is obvious, as use may still be made of it for mischievous purposes by auy native possessing ventriloquial powprs.