THE NATIVE MEETING AT WAITARA.

Otago Witness, Issue 1387, 29 June 1878, Page 4

THE NATIVE MEETING AT WAITARA.

[By Telegraph. 1 (fhom oob own oorrespondekt.) , New Plymouth, June 21st. The Provincial district of Taranaki, in which so much of the exciting history of New Zealand has been transacted, extends from the Patea Eiver on the south to the Mokau on the north, comprising about two anda-half millions of acres, of whioh a large proportion la good land. The land is mostly bush, so that settlement has been Blow from that as well as from other reasons. There has been here no temptation for the operations of large capitalists, but on the other hand it ia claimed that it presents the most favourable field for working men with small capital. A small settler taking up land on the deferredpayment system, who can clear his land himself, can soon be in a position of comfort. The population of the Province has about doubled within thelaßtfouryears,andinthesouthern part especially settlement is making rapid prottreßS. The Waimate Plains, of which so much has latterly been heard, are in Taranaki, and their settlement will add greatly to its prosperity. At present Taranaki is well represented oompared with the rest of the North Island, but the people Bay that the population ia increasing so rapidly that it would be absurd to make any change. They say that if you follow apopulation basis closely you will have to restore the member next year. The town of New Plymouth looks about as full a3 ever it did, but, as is always the caso, the' people are confidently anticipating a change Boon, as Mr Oarruthers has long ago reported that it was quite practical to make a harbour. An Act was passed some years ago to the effect that one-fourth of all land sales within the Province should be voted to the construction of a harbour at New Plymouth. A loan of L 200.000 is to be obtained, and it is anticipated that with this sum

can be constructed a harbour that can accommodate tha steamers, and enable a direct trade to bo carried on with Australia. The prospects of Taranaki, it cannot be gainsaid, are very hopeful, and no doubt the result of the present meeting will be to remove the last shadow of danger from, disturbance by the Natives. How greatly the Native war has affected New Plymouth can now be seen by a visit to the cemetery close by the town, where are the graves of many soldiers and settlers shot or tomahawked by the Maoris. Ido hope and believe that it is now all past, and that not another shot will be fired Taranaki was the smallest Province in New Zealand, but its history before and after the foundation of tho European settlement ha? been remarkable. The Ngatiawa tribe, the first occupants of the district, came to New Zealand under a chief called Manaia, who, coming down the W<ss>t Coast with his canoe, entered the Waitara River and settled on its banks. This is one great reason for the affection of tho Maoris for the Waitara, and why they, took up arms rather than allow it to pass into the hands of the Europeans. There were a few residents when Manaia came, but he easily drove them off or amalgamated them with his own followers. The Ngatiawa, were a wandering people, but they always, as we have learned to our sorrow, retained a deep affection for the original home of the tribe in Taranaki. A party went to the Chatham Islands in X 836 and lived there for many years, having destroyed or enslaved the original inhabitants. The remuants of these people retnrned in 1870. The great event of recent Taranaki history is, however, the invasion of the Waikatos. In December 1831 a war party of 4000 Waikatos reached Taranaki, and the great pah of Pukerangiora was besieged and captured— the Waikatos being better furnished with muskets. After the fight 200 prisoners were killed, and it is said that those who were well tatooed were 1 beheaded in a workmanlike manner for the sake of their heads. The trade in heads for • European museums was then a flourishing one. In short the Waikatos before they were done pretty well cleared out the dis trict. Many of the Taranakis fled to Cook Strait, many were carried away captive to Waikato, and only a few remained in secret places in the forest. When the land was purchased by the agent of the New Zealand Company that gentleman congratulated his employers upon having obtained possession of a dißtriot in which there were but few Natives. He waa wofully mistaken. In Waikato the early missionaries! commenced a crusade against ulavery, and the Waikatos, different from any white slaveholders I ever heard of, came to the conclusion that they ought to liberate the Taranakis, and they conducted them back to the land of their fathers. The people at Cook Strait also returned, and the Taranaki settlers Boon found they had a great many very troublesome Natives to deal with. How all the difficulties axose I have no doubt will be made clear enough before the meeting terminates. A VISIT TO WAITABA. Between New Plymouth town and Waitara, a distance of 12 miles, almost every rood of which has been the scene of a skirmish and murder, the railway now runs, and taking the train I reached Waitara about 1 o'clock. Three' sheds, each about 120 yards long, are being erected for the accommodation of the Natives on a piece of ground of historic interest — the place where the first resistanca was made to the survey of Waitara. I need tell the Btory very briefly. The settlers of Taranaki had for years urged the Governm.en.fc to buy land for the extension of the settlement. Governor Fitaroy having insisted that a large extent of land alleged to have been purchased for the Company had not been purchased, the Government were eager to buy, a»d a Native named Te Teira, with some others, having offered the Waitara, in was determined then to purchase it in spite of the opposition of William King, who had returned from Cook Strait, and who claimed to have a vote. Be it remembered that, the Maori system of laud holding was different from now. V It more nearly resembled < that system which philosophers hold is the only right one, and that to wnich Europe will come in a century or two. The present Attorney-General, Mr Stout, ia, I believe, somewhat affected by these notions, and might derive from Maori history some information which wonld be useful to certain speculators in Europe. There is the Maori opinion in the words of a Maori chief, quoted by Mr Swanson in his book. "It is right that every individual should be free to sell his own bushel of wheat, potatoes, and corp, for they are produced by the labour of his own hands, but the land is an inheritance from our ancestors. It is the father of us aIL" William King wrote thus to Governor Browne :— " I will not . agree to. our bedroom being sold (I mean Waitara here), for this bed belongs to the whole of us. All I have to say to you, Oh Governor, is this, that none of this land will be given to you ; never, never, not till I die.'' Writing to Archdeacon Hadfield he said: " You must bear in mind the word of Rewi (his father), which spoke to you and Mr Williams. You know that word about Waitara (referring to the injunction of his father in 1840 nottosellthe Waitara). The Governor may strike me without cause, and I shall die. In that case there will be no help for it, because it is an old saying the man first and then the land. They say that Teira's piece of land belongs to him alone. That piece of land belongs to all of us ; it belongs to the orphans. It belongs to the widow." However, William King's protest waa not heeded. Money was paid to Teira, and a party was sent to survey the land. William King again wrote :— " Friend, Governor—Do you not love your land, England, the land of your father, as we also love our land at Waitara ?" The Governor determined that the survey party Bhould bo protected by an armed force. The attempt at survey was made on the 20th February, 1860, but a crowd of Maoris would not permit the surveyors to proceed with tha work, laying hold of the chains. An ultimatum was then sent to William King, giving him 24 hours to apologi«e for the obstruction. He returned an answer : " That he loved the white people very much, but that he would keep the land." On the 22nd of the month a proclamation *of martial law was issued, and the troops marched to Waitara. Then the Natives pulled up the survey pegs and the troops attacked a pah they had built. Then followed the war at Taranaki. In 1863 a proclamation was issued by Governor Grey, with the advice of his Ministers, renouncing all claim upon Waitara, and all authorities now agree that William Kirg was entitled to the sale of WaiUpon the spot where the first disturbance took place buildings for the accommodation of the natives have been erected. At Waitara ImetWetue, the Mokau chief, who was present when the Rev Mr Whitely was murdered. This murder took place at the White Cliffs, a place plainly visible from Waitara. Klght persons were murdered at the White Cliffs. In a report by Mr Searanck, it was stated ''the actual murderers at the White Cliffs were a half caste lad, a eon of an European naraod Frank Phillip*, residing at Mokau Heads, Wetere, a son of the lateTatlrei, of Te Awa-

kino, and Herewini, and Te Ana, of Mokau. These four actually committed the murder. Mr Whitely was shot by Wefcere. He was^told to go back, and refused. His horse was then shot, and Mr Whitely then sunk on his knees and commenced praying. While so doing he was shot at twice by Wetere, who then went up close and shot the unfortunate gentleman dead." I was told to-day, however, that no one there tried to save Mr Whitely. I should prefer not to believe that if possible, as Wetere is a fine looking frank fellow. Rewi is at the settlement two miles from Waitara waiting on Sir George Grey, Te Whiti, the prophet, is hardly expected at the meeting. William King is at a place called NgatiEaaru, about 15 miles inland. He is very frail, and it is said is not able to walk down, and the road being hilly he cannot ride. TE WETERE AND THE WHITE CLIFFS MABSACRE. To what I said on this subject I must add something, as I do not want to do an injustice to Te Wetere, who has now come in, and is desirous of aiding in the opening of the Mokau. The following persons were murdered at the White Cliffs :— The Rey. Jno. Whiteley, Lieut. Gascoigne, Mrs Gascoigne, Laura Gascoigne, Cecil Gagcoierne, Louisa Gascoigne, John Milne, and Edward Richards. Wetere says that frequent warnings had been given to the White Cliffs people to leave, but they did not heed them. The party who went out to them having been instigated from Waikato and other parts. After the Gascoigneß and the others had been killed the > Eev. Mr Whiteley, an old Wesleyan missionary, was seen coming, and Wetere (Wesley) called out not to touch him, but he says the blood of the Maori -was up. Wetere states that he ran away when he heard one shot and then several shot I*.1 *. He denies that he was in any way responsible ' for the killing of Mr Whiteley. It wiU be remembered that Wetere was brought in here from Mokau when Sir George Grey was last in New Plymouth by Mr Jones, an enterprising man, who has lately settled at Mokau. So far as the Parliamentary papers are concerned he is still set down as the actual murderer of Mr Whiteley. William King belongs to the Ngatiawa tribe, and was born at Waitara eatly in the present century. When the Waikatos first invaded Tarauaki, William King went to Kapiti, where he lived with Rauparaha. When the agents of the New Zealand Company commenced to buy land in Cook Strait, William King, then called Whiti, strongly urged the Maoris to sell land. While resident at Waikanae, William King was baptißed by the present Bishop of Wellington. After the masmcre at the Wairau, William King, who then resided at Waikare, had 100 armed men ready to defend Wellington ; and but for him Wellington would have been attacked. In 1846-7 he joined his forces to our troops, and was stated to have been chiefly the means of Rungihaeatu being defeated. In 1847 he and his people began to make preparations for a return to Waitara. They had always yearned for their home ; the climate of Cook Strait was not so good, and the Maoris could hardly get kunoaras to grow there, whereas they flourished luxuriantly on the fertile and warm soil of Waitara. At length Potatau invited William King, who was related to the Waikatos through an ancestor, to return to Waitara. Governor Grey was seriously alarmed at the expressed intention of William King and his people to return to Waitara, and it appears at one time to have been contemplated to endeavour to stop the movement by armed force. Governor Griy, with that prescience which has always distinguished him, saw the danger of William King occupying Waitara, but seeing that he could not possibly prevent the emigration he proposed that William King should settle on the north bank of the river, and should relinquish all pretensions to any land on the south bank. William Kinsr, I believe, actually agreed to some terms of Vnat kind, but he does not seem to have carried them out, as he took up his residence on the south bank of theriver. In 1554 William King and his people possessed, in addition to considerable sums of money, 150 horses, 300 head of cattle, 40 carts, 35 ploughs, 20 pairs of harrows, 3 winnowing machines, and 10 wooden houses. King, however, now took up the anti-jand - selling movement About 1857 a meeting was called at Manawapau, where a building was erected named Tapairahenua, or " The restraining of the great evil," the great evil being the selling of land to the Europeans. There the anti-land-selling league was inaugurated. He was not a warrior or a general, leaving all that business to Aparona, his fighting chief ; indeed he went to Waikato and lived there, and To Wetini Taiparutu and a party of Waikatos went to fight at Taranaki. Since th* war William King has lived chiefly at Ngatiniaru, near the head waters of the Waitara. TITOKOWARU. The antecedents of this chief are pretty well known, he having been the leader in the last outbreak on the West Coast of the North IslancT, In August, 1868, Governor Brown wrote : " I have now to report with much pain and sorrow that evidence has bepn reoeived by the Government proving that Titokowaru, a Ngatiruanui chief, the lsader in these atrocities, and some of his followers, have onenly resumed the practice of oannibalism. They cooked and ate the body of at least one of their rpcent victims — a trooper in the Armed Constabulary, who was waylaid and murdered by a pnrty of about 25 Natives, on the 12th Juno ult. Indeed this fact was avowed and boasted of by Titokowwu himself in a sort of proclamation which he has issued, and a copy of which in his (Titokowavn's) handwriting has been sent to Mi Richmond by a friendly Native." In June, 1808, Cavill, Squares and Clarke were murdered by some of Titokowaru'n people, and Mr J. Booth wrote to the Native Minister that the murders were committed with Titokowaru'a knowlpdgo nnd consent. Hone Pibaura wrote that two of the raon were disembowelled at Te Ngntu Ote Manu. Tawhiao and Rewi did not sanction these actg. At the beginning of October, 1868, was fought the action at Te Ngutu O te Manu, where Major VonTempskey, Captain Buck, Lt. Hunter, and two other ofneeru were killed with 19 men, while 25 were wounded. At this time Titoknwaru was" strongly reinforced. He advanced to the Patea, killing or driving away the settlers and destroying the houses and property. In Novpmber, 1868, Colonel Whitmore attacked Titokowaru without sucoprs, and had to retreat, with the loss of Major Hunter, and eight men killed and 27 wounded. In T>ef>mber, Titokowaru sent a letter to Colonel Whitmora, a few sentences _ from which I quote as a curiosity. This is a word of sound and earnest advice for Whitmore: "Salutations to you. I desire to ask you this question. To whom doe 3 England belong, and to whom belongs the land on which you are now standing ? I will tell you the heavens and the earth were created in the beginning. Then was man created, and also all things that are in the world, after their several lrinds ; but you were formed Pakehq, and England was nampd your country. We are Maoris, with New Zealand for our country. I think there h>vs been a fixed division betwenn ynu and us— a great gulf— even the ocean. Why did you not take thought before you crossed over hither? We did not cross from hence over to you. Away with you from our j country to yaw own country fa the midst of '

the ocean ! Ari«e, and be baptised ! and let your bins be w.ished away, calling upon the name of the Lord." Sir George Bowen, in a despatch, spoke thus of Titokowaru :— " He belongs t& the wild and fierce tribe of the Ngatirunuis, who dwell near Taranaki. Though educated as a Christian, ho has for some years past been a fanatical prophet of the Hauhau creed. In this capacity, and as a practised and successful warrior engaged in nearly all tho fightrf with the English oa the west coast of thit island sinoe 1860, he has pained a great ascendancy over his countrymen. Though he is not, a chief of high birth, Titokowaru appears to possess in a large degree that passion and genius for war which aro common to most Maoris." Colonel Whitmore reported that he commanded his men with all tho skill of an experienced general. His hatred against the English Is said to have been increased by the loss i>f an eye in action with our troops some time ago. I refer to thes9 matters occurring only a few years ago to contrast with them the present position. The country devastated by Titokowaru has been reoccupied, and contains fair-sized towns, whiht the farms are ataongst the beat in New Zealand. Land which could not then be approached is now coming under the plough, high prices are paid for it, and it is occupied in perfect security. Titokowaru is now a man of peace, and the Native Minister within the last few weeks has had most satisfactory interviews with him.