AUCKLAND.

Wellington Independent, Volume XX, Issue 2223, 24 June 1865, Page 5

AUCKLAND.

By tlio arrival of the s.s. Egmont from Napier and Aucklaud we have received our usual files to the 17th hist. WAIKATO. — THE MAORI KING AND EBWI. The Southern Cross of the 15th inst says : The following telegram was placed in our hands yesterday by Mr. George Graham M.G.A. :- " From Brigadier-General Carey to Mr Geo. Graham. " The Maori King desires to arrange a meeting with you. Ho has sent for Eewi. Davies (Kawiri) has just returned with letters for you. Can you come up ?" Of course we offer no comment whatever upon this document. We hope good will come of the meeting. It was Mr Graham's intention when he first went up to Waikato, to remain there till he saw JRewi and the King, but owing to the state of the rivers he found it impossible to reach those chiefs, who are in the Mokau country. On leaving for Auckland, after procuring Thompson's submission, Mr Graham requested General Carey to telegraph for him if any communication should be received from Kewi and Matufcaera. We learn that Mr Graham does not intend to leave Auckland until he has communicated with the Governor, who is expected to come up from the Kawau in consequence of the very important news that reached Auckland yesterday, from different parts of the country. Mr Graham expects that after receiving the submission of Matutaera and Kewi a great meeting will be held at Tamahere, at which, besides those chiefs and their followers, Thompson will be present. The following is a copy of a telegram received by General Cameron from BrigadierGeneral Carey : — " Messenger in from the King. He wishes to meet Mr Graham whom he calls Peacemaker of tho Island. He agrees to what William Thompson has done, aud, messenger reports, has written to ltewi to come in." Tho same paper of the 17th inst., says that important despatches had arrived the previous day from Waikato but that the contents had not transpired. POVERTY BAY. — THREATENING- NEWS. The same paper says: — Very important intelligence from Poverty Bay was received by the Egmont yesterday. We give below all the statements that have reached us, from

which it will be seen that there is almost certain to be a combat between the King natives and the loyal natives, the former led by Patara, and the latter by Mokeno and Henare Potai. A gentleman who came up by the Egmont gives us the following particulars :— Mr McLean paid a visit to Poverty Bay on the 3rd of June, accompanied by Bishop Williams, having been requested by the natives of the place to mediate in a quarrel which had arisen o\it of the erection of the Quean's flag upon a piece of disputed land. The result of the proceedings of Mr McLean was that a large body of the natives who had hitherto been neutral determined to take the oath of allegiance. Mr McLean then proceeded to Waiapu, taking with him Mokena (Morgan), who had been supporting the Government party at Tauranga. Mr McLean landed near Waiapu on the Bth instant^ and was soon in communication with the principal natives, with whom Henare Potai had been taking an active parb in, M!o-----keno's absenco to prevent the approach of Patara into the district. It appears, however, that Patara had come over from Haukokore with about fifty followers, after the visit of H.M. s.s. Eclipse to that place. His intention was evidently to unite himself with the King natives at Waiapu. The Government men, amounting to between 400 and 500 men, expressed a strong determination to take Patara. The friendly chiefs stated to Mr McLean that they were very much in want of ammunition, and this Mr McLean promised to supply them with. The chief Henare Potai accompanied Mr McLean to Napier to get the ammunition and 100 stand of arms. The gentleman who supplied us with the above information, and whose opinion is en» titled to respect, entertains no apprehension as to the safety of entrusting arms to the natives led by Morgan. (fEOM X COE.EESPONDENT.) Poverty Bay, June 1865. We have passed a most exciting time lately, and I see no probable solution of our troubles. The facts of the case are simply this : After the prophet Kereopa, of the Hauhaus, left our district, his coadjutor, Patara, made many converts, and nios, or prayingstaffs, were erected in all directions. We had no opposition from any of our natives to these preceedings, but one small tribe, to show their acknowledgment of the Queen's authority, set up a pole and hoisted the Union Jack, when, behold ! the whole district was in a commotion. Hirine Te Kauae, of whom so much has been said, instigated by that arch villian Kearono Hukupo," commenced preparations to defeat the movement, by claming the land under tribal right on which the staff was erected. The place was so very unsettled that the settlers considered it advisable to send to Napier and communicate with Mr. McLean there, than whom no man in New Zealand is better acquainted with the native character. Mr. McLean arrived on the 4th instant, and on the following day had a general meeting of all the tribes. This lasted till Wednesday evening, leaving the question just as it was. The next day Hirine's people commenced building a pa within short musket range of the Queen's natives, on a piece of land claimed by one of our settlers, and which, this very day, I heard Hirine says the European should never have, though he purchased it in 1830, and no native ever made a claim to it till a week since, when they first spoke of nutting up a pa. In truth, wo are in a very grave position. The Superintendent of Hawke's Bay has done and is doing all he can, but should the threatened visit of the Pai Marires from Opotiki take place in the spring, I fear we shall have no alternative save leaving, when another fertile district will be ruined by the vacillating policy of our rulers. The following arc extracts from private letters bearing on the points noted in the foregoing communication. It will be observed they speak less despondingly than the first letter, but the facts stated are sufficiently menacing to demand the most watchful care by the Government to counteract the machinations of the fanatics in the district. One writer says : — On the Ist of June, Mr McLean received letters from several chiefs of Poverty Bay, referring to a dispute which had arisen about the erection of a flagstaff, which is bearing the Queen's flag, upon a piece of land the ownership of which is disputed. At the request of the natives he went thither from Napier in the St. Kilda steamer, and a long discussion took place about the right to the land, and the expediency of merging their differences in the erection of a common flagstaff. The result is that a larger number of the natives who hitherto have maintained a neutral position have come forwarded to take the oath of allegiance. Those who had joined the Hau Hau still continue to hold their fanatical tenets. The celebrated Hau Hau leader, Patara, who was concerned in the murder at Opotiki, has made his way from the Bay of Plenty to Waiapu, where he meets with the support of about 200 King natives ; but the chiefs Mokena and Henare Potare, with about 400 natives of the Government party express a hearty determination to do their best to capture him. Another writer, under date June 9, remarks : — We have been in a very unsettled state for some time past. Last week our prospects looked very gloomy, indeed ; not that there was any immediate cause for apprehension but the people seemed to be drifting gradually, but surely, towards this abominable Hau Hau. On Sunday last, however, Mr McLean arrived from Napier, accompanied by the Bishop and Mr Campbell, R.M., of Napier. Since their arrival a number of people have taken the oath of allegiance, and, though we cannot consider ourselves to be in a satisfactory state, yet we hope that this may be the turning point, and that matters may prove better, instead of worse, from this time forward. Mr McLean has gono to Waiapu, where Patara (Butler) is said to be now, and w« expect him back again immediately on hia way to Napier. We are anxious to know what is going on at Waiapu. The capture of Patara would be the greatest possible boon to this district, for we shall never be able to feel secure here so long as he is at large. His arrival here would immediately unsettle the whole district. IMPORTANT DISCOVERT AT MANGAWJI. The Southern Cross of the 16th inst says :— We received intelligence yesterday of a very important discovery having been made at Mangawai, and wbicfi promises to be of

great benefit to the province. It appears that whilo the workmen engaged on the breakwater there were quarrying for material, they came upon an immense bed of flag-stones, of superior quality, and sufficient to flag all the footpaths in Auckland and give a permanent surplus tor export. The agging can be procured with the greatest ease close to tho water's edge, and vessels taking cargo to Mangawai, aud which have hitherto had to return empty, can now fill up with this very useful material, and thus secure a freight both ways. The discovery has been made on Government land, and there is, therefore, no nocos;sity for vexatious negotiation with natives, wiio know how to ask enough for their land when the value of it has been demonstrated by European industry. Next in importance to the discovery of gold and coal is that of an article of this kind iv such general demand, and which, instead of having to be procured by an expensive land carriage as it is in many of the colonies, can be had almost at our doors. If we leave exporting out of the question, and and limit the advantage we shall gain by this discovery to the nagging of the footpaths throughout Auckland, it will be a considerable one. We hope to see this new source of wealth immediately developed, and, as the Superintendent has been made acquainted with it, we have no doubt but that with his usual activity he will take the necessary steps to turn it to account. THE BAY OF ISLANDS. The New Zealand Herald of the 17th inst says : — We are glad to be able to inform our readers that the natives iv this district are most peaceably disposed. This news will be the more acceptable, as a contemporary has been doing its utmost during the past few days — and without any just grounds whatever, to create a feeling of uneasiness with respect to the North. A gentleman arrived from the Bay informs us that a large native meeting or hui was held on Monday last at the Rawiti, when Mr Kemp, the Land Purchase Commissioner, paid them a sum of £1,200 on account of land purchased by the Provincial Government. The natives are anxious, it appears, to effect further sales, and a general feeling of quietude exists amongst both settlers and natives. THE BAY OF ISLANDS COAL FIELD. The same journal says : — As our readers are aware a party of miners and immigrants, under tho superintendence of Mr Collett, proceeded some fortnight or three weeks since to the Kawa Kawa block, for the purpose of testing tho extent of the coal field. Mr Collett had notsufficient men at his disposal to sink shafts upon the hills, and his examinations, therefore, were confined to the valley, where the sinking was lighter. Seven shafts were sunk, enclosing an area which, from the thickness of the seam, Mr Collett estimates to contain some 30,000 tons of coal. The seam is over 12 feet in thickness. Mr Collett has made a commencement of the tramway between the mines and the river. SALE OP CONFISCATED J.ANDS. From the N. Z. Herald of the 17th we learn, that the first sale of rural lands confiscated under the New Zealand Settlements Act, 1863, was to take place that morning. The sale was to be entrusted to Mr Cochrane. The Herald for once approves of steps taken by the General Government. It says : — The General Government have acted wisely in the interests of the colony in entrusting the sale of these lands to the hands of a business man of Mr S. Cochrane's ability and experience in the sale of land, instead of allowing them to be Bold by one of their own officials. The lands to be oliered to-morrow comprise some very valuable sections in the Maioro block, West Waiuku, consisting of farms of from 44 to 117 acres in extent ; also, rather more than one hundred lots in the Waipipi block, West Waiuku, varying in size from 34 to 338 acres each. Much of the land, we are informed, is of most excellent quality, in part volcanic, and haying a great depth of rich soil. The locality is well Known, to everybody, and the position of the blocks near the head of the Waiuku and the Manakau navigation give it a largo commercial value, irrespective of quality and other advantages. We have been asked by holders of 40 acre land orders, whether such orders will be received to-day in payment or part payment of these lands. They will not. Such scrip are orders upon Provincial lands only. The lands to be sold to-day are the property of the General Government, and will be offered at an upset price of £1 per acre. As a field for settlement, they offer considerable inducement to the capitalist. The energetic measures taken, by his Honor, the Superintendent to settle the newly arrived immigrants in various parts of the country, and employ their labor on public works of usefulness, has not only given increased value to unsold lands, but has placed within the reach of the bona fide settler, of capital, a source whence he may obtain labor on the spot on reasonable terms. This state of things peculiarly applies to the districts in which are the blocks now for sale.