HUIRANGI REDOUBT. (From the Correspondent of the Taranaki Herald.)

Otago Witness, Issue 489, 13 April 1861, Page 6

HUIRANGI REDOUBT. (From the Correspondent of the Taranaki Herald.)

Wednesday, March 6. — The insurgents, who have remained very quiet since yesterday evening, fired but few shots from their pits to-day, though their positions were searched as usual with shell and shot from redoubts 7 and 8. Rain set in at noon, but the works were continued and carried on as usual. To insure the safety of our workmen, the advanced part of the trench is deepened to nearly five feet below the surface ; it is protected on each side by gabioned breastworks, and the enfilading traverses for the coverers stand but five yards asunder, being placed right and left alternately r

Thursday. — About 3, p.m., an outpost sentry of the 15th, who was on guard over a gully 400 yards from No. 6 redoubt, was fired at by a native who had managed to conceal himself within forty 3'ards. Tho Maori missed bis ma_rk, and fled down the gully towards the Waitara valley, but the soldier, though so Jar distant from the redoubt, ran forward and fired on his retreating enemy, guided by the waving of the fern through which he passed, and continued to load and fire until reinforcements arrived from the camp. The AdjutantGeneral, who happened to be passing by, rode forward and reconnoitered the brink of the valley himself, but nothing could be found of the enemy excepting the fresh footprints of some Maories where they descended a precipitous part of the valley. The weather is so wet that, although an attempt is made to carry on the sap work, its progress is very much retarded by the rain. Up to this time there are no tents for the guard at No. 8 redoubt. After working all day, it is not pleasant to keep watch without cover for four hours, and then be lelievecl only to sit or lie on a little cold wet fern, without even the shelter of a tent. If the weather continues bad, tent 3 will doubtless be sent forward.

Friday. — The rain is so constant that to work in the trenches to-day was impracticable, and nothing transpired worthy of notice.

Saturday. — The blue sky and genial sunshine of this morning have dispelled the gloom cast over the men's spirits by the late ivet weather, and the sap- work was resumed at an early hour with renewed vigour and cheerfulness. There is a remarkable decrease in the number of shots from the enemy, but those they do fire come pretty close to the mark. The Maories, to manifest their spirit of defiance, will, doubtless, remain in Te Arei pah as long as they do not see any imminent danger of a close combat, but it is not in the least probable that they will wait to cross their tomahawks with the British bayonet. Already the paling of the pah is slowly disappearing, and it is believed that the natives are taking advantage of the time we are expending on the^ sap-work to fortify themselves in some position even more difficult of approach than Pukerangiora. The sap will conduct us to the hill, but we shall still have to devise means of catching the enemy.

Thursday evening, March 14. — At the beginning of the week, every one here felt certain of seeing the British flag floating over Te Arei pah by to-day at the farthest, for our men worked with such increased energy as they neared the enemy, that on Monday evening the sap was pushed within 80 yards of the pah. The fire of the enemy decreased daily as we advanced, the distance being so short that they could not for an instant show themselves anywhere in the vicinity of the pah without a certainty of falling under the accurate aim of our coverers. Some pits situated behind the brow of a cliff that leans over the river, midway between the head of the sap and the pah, were, however, occupied by the enemy on Monday, and early in the morning a shot from that quarter entered the sap, and wounded one of the 57th slightly in the head, yet it was evident, from the large amount of shell, shot, and rifle bullets that scoured them, and from the feeble opposition of the natives, that the enemy's positions were becoming untenable, and the total evacuation of Te Arei was daily expected. But events do not always happen exactly as we anticipate, for no one can foresee what a few hours may bring forth. The first object of interest that became visible to us at daybreak on Tuesday morning was a large flag of truce flying over ,the besieged pah. This (the 12th of March) being the daj' proposed by the natives for hoisting the Maori king's standard throughout New Zealand, the white flag was at first regarded with suspicion ; every glass in the camp was brought to bear on it, but no insignia of any kind could be discerned, and a few minutes served to reassure every one. The truce was acknowledged, the working parties were dispensed with, and returned to their respective camps without entering the sap, the Maories showing themselves in front of the pah, and many of them walked about confidently under the eyes of the troops. A messenger from the insurgents approached No. 8 redoubt and asked

for an interpreter. Colonel Leslie instantly despatched a mounted orderly to acquaint the General of the circumstance, and in a very short time the Adjutant-General, accompanied by Mr. D. Hay, of the Native Department, arrived from Waitara and proceeded to the front. Letters were brought down by the Maories, and the remainder of Tuesday and all the time since was occupied in a succession of interviews between the natives and the interpreter. Yesterday a Maori came to No. 8 redoubt, for the purpose of exchanging his flag of truce for one from the camp.

This morning (Tuesday) the interviews were again renewed. Mr. Hajr, having arrived early from Waitara, moved up towards the pah with a flag of truce. A native, also bearing a flag, approached, and met him halfway, and, after exchanging a few words, the Maori conducted Mr. Hay into Te Arei pah, where he remained in conference with the insurgents for several hours. ■> It may be worthy of remark, that while Mr. Hay was approaching Te Arei, the hills on the right of it were covered with Maori spectators, but when he entered the pah, they all disappeared like a shadow.

Every one here is in suspense as to the object and the probable issue of the truce, and it is amusing to see the eagerness with which groups of men gather around the several horsemen that gallop to aud fro with despatches, endeavouring to read in their faces the purport of their message, and whether it presages war or peace.