THE Wellington Independent. Tuesday, June 17, 1862. THE NORTHERN NEWS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1732, 17 June 1862, Page 3

THE Wellington Independent. Tuesday, June 17, 1862. THE NORTHERN NEWS.

We think we may certainly say that the cup will safely reach the mouth, that there will be do slip between (he cup and the lip this time. The Assembly has been prorogued, but only for a few days (from the 26ih to the 30th June) to adapt the sailing of the steamers t> the convenience of Members. From all that we hear we think it not unlikely the Assembly may be still further prorogued for a week or fortnight, should the Governor be detained at Kaipara longer than is expected ; meanwhile the Lord Worsley has brought down Capt. Campbell the clerk of ihe House of Representatives, and sundry more cart loads of documents belonging to both Houses. The Coromandel question and not the Kaipara feud, was, as we announced; the immediate cause of Sit George Grey's hasty return to Auckland. The Harrier called at Coromandel before entering Auckland. It appears that the two principal natives owning Coromandel are a woman named Lydia and the chief Te Hira. The former is the superior of the two, and before Sir George reached Auckland the New Zealander mentioned its being reported that she bad made up her mind, with her following, to sell the land to Government. This intelligence it was we presume, that was forwarded officially to the Governor, and caused him to los c no time in proceeding to settle a matter which so seriously threatened the peace of the district. Human nature appear 8 to be the same in the maori as in the pakeha, at any rate Mrs. Lydia proved' uo exception to the old established rule of "woman's at besi •JJS^MMp^jaW

tor though she had made up her mind to sell, Sir George found her Uncertain, coy, aud hard to please, And variable as the shade By the light quivering aspen made ; "On landing (Wednesday, j4ita June) His Excellency says tho New*. Zealander sent for Lydia and her people, and again endeavoured, at first in vain, to convince them that the course which they were pursuing was a foolish one ; it was only when Sir George was about to leave appearentJy in dudgeon with tbeir obstinacy, that Madame Lydia and some of her people rushed into the water, drew the Governor's boat back to the shore, and there promised him that all should be done as he desired." The consent of all has been obtained excepting that of Te Hira, who is absen 1 somewhere about the Bay of Islands, and sore pressed by emissaries from Upper Waikatp not to give his consent. The Governor has sent Mr. White to request him to come to Auckland ; and as Lydia and the resident natives had also been strongly urged by the Waikatos to withhold their consent- -but fruitlessly so, we may hope that Te Hira's consent will also be speedily obtained. At Coronaandel there are not any more definite gold discoveries, nevertheless enough has been lound to warrant the expectation that valuable quartz veins will in a few months be subjected to the power of the Crusher, and add very materially to the wealth of the North. The following claim for the reward of £2000, offered by the Provincial Governmen, has been sent to the Superintendent. Coromandel, June sth, 1862. Pursuant to an advertisement in the local journals by the Provincial Council, offering a reward of £2,000 for the discoveiy of an avuilable gold field in this province, subject to certain conditions contained therein, — we the undersigned, beg most respectfully to send in out claim for the reward, for the following reasons : — Ist. Because, we have at great expense and labour, and without aid from any quarter, first discovered a gold bearing quartz reef on government land, capable of employing many thousands and the source of the many specimens found in the localities through which it passes. 2nd. Because 500 men will shortly be employed upon this reef. 3rd. Because immediate steps will he taken for machinery. Thomas Keven, E. S. Woodin, VV. P. Estes, P. O. Otto, C. H. Wilson, H Milan. P-S. — The word "thousands" must be understood to mean the line of reef so far as we have traced j through different properties. ! The doings at Kaipara are thus report | ed by the Southern 6*oss of the 7th insf. Yesterday morning the intelligence reached town that Tirarau had been shot in the fight on Thursday last, the 29th May. The news was contained in a letter addressed to that portion of the Uriohau, or Peikea's tribe, who have beeu staviug for the last few weeks in town, and written by those who bad remained behind at Oruawharo. The letter was brought to town by a white man, whose name we have not been able to ascertain. We merely mention the report without pledging ourselves for its accuracy, -but the account of the whole incident is so circumstantial that it is difficult not to give it credence. We are told th.it the chief was struck by two bullets, oue of which hit him in the hip and passed round the groin, whilst the other pierced his chest, coming out under the shoulder-blade. The na# tive informants likewise state that the dead body had been seen by one of themselves, and that the women of the tribe were holding a tangi over the dead body of the chief. No mention was made of the general result of the fight, nor of how many vieve killed or wounded ; it is only said tbat be was shot during a battle. If the news should be confirmed, we may safely anticipate that the death of such a man as Ti rarau will prove to be tbe prelude to a long and sanguiuarj war amongst the Noitheru natives All will be involred in it, and it is impossible to say bow it may terminate. An impression we believe exists that the dispute is one between parts of the Ngapuhi tribe, but such is not the case. Tirarau is by birth half Ngapuhi, half Ngatiwhatua: Matiu, on the other hand, is Ngapuhi. It may therefore be considered pro bable that in case of a general rush to arms, the greater part of the Buy of Island's natives will eurol themselves on the side of the latter. . At last the great question of interference or non-interfereuce will have to be settled. Government must either be prepared to look on and see tbe natives shoot each other, or interpose with decision. Which course they will elect for they know best themselves, but we believe that a policy of non-interference would be equivalent to an abandonment of the race to ' self-destruction, and would involve a most serious derelectioa of duty on the part of those in authority. We are gratified to hear that so far' Ministers have acted in this matter with good sense aud discretion. It appe; rs^ that they have instructed the authorities iv the districts involved, whilst abstaining from any expression of opinion as to the merits of the quarrel itself, to use all- their influence to prevnet natives leaving their own homes and proceeding to the seat of war. In his Excellency's absence this was all that could be done. <■

The above is given in tho Cross with all the prominence of lnrge type and leader position. The large majority of readers would propably agree with the writer that "the account of the whole incident is so circumstantial that it is difficult not to give it credence" and yet in the very next columu, in its smallest type, it has a totally different version, in whioh it says it has traced the letter to its concoction and finds that "it is a palpable fabrication." As we have given the bane we give also the tantidote, both from the Cross of the same date. A burnous was current in town yesterday that during a recent engagement the chief Tirarau was killed by Maiiu's people, at Kaipara. Seeing that Tiiarau is a chief of great influeace

and has ever been the friend of tbe white men, and that he is now acting on tbe defensive, on behalf of his own and the settler's rights, the rumour created great alarm, because the death of such a man would set the natires of the north in a blaze. Knowing the caution with which the natives figh<, and the vengeance certain to be wreaked ' for the death of a chief in a war, on the party I who caused his death, we had great doubts of the truth of the story. On inquiry, we found 1 that itwns stated with the greatest circumstantiality to the government, and that a letter detailing particulars, had likewise been banded to tbe Ministry. We have been able to trace this document pretty nearly to its concoction, and are happy to say that on its face it is a polpable fabrication. The information was said to have beeu derived from a white man who had been far up the VV airoa river. The man in question denies having given the Natives any such information, and states that at the time he was up tha W airoa no fighting was going on. Besides, the date of the alleged fighc, in which Tirarau is said to have fallen was tbe 19th ultimo, whereas we have reliable information to the 29th, which states that no fighting bad occurred since our last report. The rumour may, therefore, be treated as devoid of foundation. From the Bay we learn that the natives are quiet, but there is a general disposition manifested to join the belligerents. A war in the North would be sweeter than honey to the " Southern Cross," and by such Jeaders as the first one above quoted, it certainly does its best to bring such a calamity about. The Governor was to star for Kaipara last Monday, and it is possible that his detention there may cause a few days further prorogation of the Assembly. It is confidently anticipated that the Governor will without much delay be able to part the combatants and induce them to retire to their respective settlements ; meanwhile it is satisfactory to find that the Cross acknowledges that "so far ministers have acted in this matter with good sense and discretion.' After this admission we may not unreasonably hope that some day even our local contemporary the "A'lveitiser" may "purge himself and live cleanly."