WANGANUI.

Wellington Independent, Volume XIX, Issue 2177, 9 March 1865, Page 5

WANGANUI.

We make the following extracts from the " Wanganui Chronicle" of the Ist inst. The Cavalry Volunteers. — A party (47) of this valuablo corps escorted tho detachment of the 68th Regiment on Sunday from Camp Alexander to the Waitotara, where the cavalry remained all night and returned on Monday. We hear of complaints as to the postion in which tho Government places men belonging to this corps when they are off duty from sickness. In this case their ' pay and allowances are stopped. Many of 1 them have given up their regular employment in order to attend to their cavalry duties, so that when they are sick they have ' nothing to look to and nothing to support them. Surely it would be but fair their pay ■ and forago should be continued during sickness which has been brought on — as in all i cases it is — by the arduous nature of their duties. '- The Waitotara. — We understand that on - Saturday a native bearing a white flag, came 3 down the Waitotara redoubt with a letter tc "* Captain Creagh, commanding thero. Unfortunately there was no one at the redoubl - who understood Maori sufficiently well to be > able to translate the letter, but this mucl "" was made out :— Although not signed, it wa; • sent by Hare Tipene, who intimated that he - was willing to treat for peace. I: the General wished to fight, whj 3 did he go to Patea and not come t< r Weraroa P But ho thought enough of blooc b had been shed, and that peace might now b< . made. The letter was sent to the General c The Maoris had still a white flag .flying oi Monday last.

Brigadier-General Waddy.— This distinguished officer met with an accident last week by which his collar bone was broken — his horse having fallen with him. He came into town by the Gundagai on Saturday. _ Tni Militia. — We understand that another detachment, if not the remainder, of the 14th Regiment is expected here, and that on their arrival the present intention is that the militia shall be relieved from their irksome duties at the redoubts, and we trust, also, from the necessity of appearing every day on parade. Liout.-Colonei Morant paid a visit to Stewart's redoubt on Friday, heaid the grievances of the men and promised to remedy them, and we believe he has been as good as his promise. On his departure he received three hearty cheers froom the men. The Bushrangers. — More than fifty men have now applied for admission into this corps, the greater number of them being militiamen at present stationed at the redoubts. As no captain has been named, they hope to be allowed to choose their own officers, and we trust this privilege will be granted them. A far greater number would have enrolled their names had they been assured of this privilege or known who was to command them. What they want is active work at the occupation their name assigns to them, not to be cooped up in a redoubt. Military Dictator. — Itis said that Lieut. General Sir Duncan A. Cameron, X.C.8., has been apponted by the Home Government to conduct the war to a close without being hampered either by the Governor or the Ministry. It is also said that the Constitution Act has been suspended, but we scarcely believe that such an extreme and unnecessary measure would be resorted to. We suspect that the suspension must merely refer to the freeing of the General from his former trammels. Now that he has the power, we have no doubt that the war will very shortly be brought to a close by lu3 energy and ability. Funeral of John Williams. — Monday, the 27th, being appointed for the funeral of the chief John Williams Hipango, at the time arranged his numerous Europeanfriends assembled at his house, amongst whom we observed Col Logan (commander of the garrison), and many other officers, the hon Mr Mantell, native secretary, the resident and other magistrates, and a very large number of the old settlers and townspeople. The beautiful flag presented by the ladies to the loyal natives was most appropriately laid on the coffin by Colonel Logan, and when the procession was formed it w r as carried before it, the Hag of old England covering the corpse. The threo Episcopalian and the Presbyterian ministers went first, the firing party of militia followed, then the flag, and after it the coffin. The two sons of the deceaspd were tho chief mourners, several relatives walked with them, and then the Europeans, who in fact formed the chief part of the procession. In the church there was a large assemblage of ladies, who broke through the usual custom on this occasion. The service was read in Maori by the Revs It. Taylor and B. K. Taylor, and concluded with a short Maori hymn. From the church the procession ascended to the burying place on the summit of the hill, which was a very toilsome march, there being no proper road up tho Hill. Several of the European friends of the deceased volunteered to relieve the native bearers and cheerfully bore the coffin up the steepest part of the wa}**. This kind act gave another proof, if one were wanting, of the high respect entertained for the departed. On the conclusion of the service three volleys were fired over the grave. From the summit of this hill the view of the town, the river, and adjacent country, as well as of the sea, is very beautiful. It is to be hoped that the memory of this good and loayal chief will be perpetuated by the erection of a monument which will form a conspicuous object if placed on this spot. Nearly all the adjacent lands seen from this place once chiefly belonged to the hapu of which the deceased was the head ; indeed, Hoani Wiremu's claims at one time extended over a very large portion of tho western coast — from the Manawatu to the Patea, a distance of nearly a hundred miles, and inland to Pipiriki. If an obelisk were erected it would serve as a memento of Moutoa, as well as of this, the principal chief who has fallen. A plain column, with the names of the engagements and the principal chiefs whotook part in them, might be built here with the money voted by the Provincial Council for a monument after the Moutoa fight. The sympathy displayed on this occasion by the European portion of tho community will long be remembered by the native race, and tend to cement the bond of union between the two.