IMPORTANT INTELLIGENCE FROM WANGANUI.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXI, Issue 2388, 14 July 1866, Page 4

IMPORTANT INTELLIGENCE FROM WANGANUI.

TREACHERY OF THE HAU HAUS. MAJOR M'DONNELL, ME. 0. CAB- 1 EINGTON, ME PERCY SMITH AND i LIEUTENANT WILSON FIRED ' UPON BY A PARTY IN AMBUSCADE BETWEEN WAINGONGORA AND PATEA. We extract the following from the Wanganni Times of Tuesday, courteously furnished to us by Major McDonnell. Patea, June 18, 1866. TO THE EDITOR OF THE " TVAXGAUUI TIMES." Dear Sir,— l hasten to fonyard by express the following important intelligence : — At noon on Saturday last, 16th instant, Major M'Donnell, accompanied by Mr. O'Carrington (Chief Surveyor), Mr. Percy Smith, Surveyor; Lieutenant Wilson, Native Contingent. (Whirihana), and two orderlies of the W.Y.C. started from Waingongora to Patea. When they had proceeded about three and a half miles, a little beyond the Wailn Eiver, Lieutenant Wilson, who was a fevr yards in advance noticed a peculiar movement in the fern. In doubt, and fuspicious of his old friends the Hail Haus, although the road is considered comparatively safe, he checked his hovsc suddenly, which brought the party altogether. Wilson's doubts were soon set at roat. He shouted ! out " Hau Hau !" and at the same instant u]i rose over twenty nutivos at a distance of about forty yards, and fired a volley into the party. In a second or two another lot of about twenty more sprang up at the same place and fired a second volley, and until the j Europeans got out of range, all the Hau! Haus fired as fast as they could load. ! It will hardly be necessary to state that as ! soon as they had recovered from tlieir sur- J prise, they all wheeled their horses round as j quickly as they could, and beat a speedy re- ■, treat, more especially as none of the party; were armed, except the two orderlies, who only had their swords and l'evolvers. Whilst retreating, Major M'Donnell, who was riding in rear, received a severe blow in the eye from a clod thrown up by one of the horses. As he was quite blinded b}- this, and was in great pain, he called out to the remainder to slacken their pace when they had (^onen short distance, which they did, although still within range of the Hau Haur, who kept up j a constant fire. But here again, the sharp i eyes of Wirihana detected another body of Hau Haus, doubling down a blind gully on the right front to cut them off; they were ; therefore again obliged to increase their pace ' and eventually reached Waingongora in safety. As it was important that they should return to Patea the same night, Captain Dawson, Eoyal Irish, commanding the regiment, kindly furnished a party under the command of liieufc. A.. Jackson, Jioj'fll Irish, who escorted them to Manawapou. !

Oa reaching the scene of the ambuscade ; they examined the ground around. It was entirely strewed with cartridge papers— not only with the ordinary native cartridge, but also with Enfield cartridges — proving that rifles had been in play as well as single and double barrelled guns. A short clivtanco further, on the opposite side of the road, the trades were discovered of another party Laving been in ambuscade. This made it apparent that it hud been the intention of the H.'iu-liaus to allow the party they were lying in wait for to pass the first ambuscade and when abreast of the centre one to discover themselves and thus place their victims between three fires. But the quick eye and the natural instinct of Wirihuna who discovered the centre ambuscade before the party had arrived abreast of it, disturbed their calculations by half a minute or so, and it is to him in this instance, and also when the JTau-haus tried to cut off retreat, that it may be truly said all owe their lives. It is certainly most miraculous that not one of the party was wounded, and it can only be attributed to the Hau-haus firing 100 hastily in their anxiety, nnd to the confusion caused among them by their ambuscade having been discovered by Wirihana before it w<xs quite ripe. "Whilst loading and firing they kept on shouting — "E llikt Kawoa." This would appear to be a kind of battle cry — " j?iki" being the name of their god of war, and " Hawca," meaning to lead on or direct. It cannot, perhaps, be bettor interpreted than by " God direct our fire." Nearly every one of them was armed with a tomahawk, in addition to a gun, and they were mostly naked, and all in perfect war costume. The Hau-haus of late have frequently by letter and word of mouth, intimated their intention of not interfering with thePakeha if he kept to the road nnd did not attempt to go inland. Strange to relate, about two hours after Major Al'Doimell and his party had left Waingongora, the Friendly Chief Hone Pihama (who had led the native attack on jSFukumaru) rode into Waingongora from Opunaki.\ lie stated that he had hastened up in consequence of his having received a letter from the rebels to the effect that, as they had noticed the Pakehas were surveying the country, and going into the bush, they considered the Pakeha had broken his compact, and therefore that they intended to watch and ambush as before.

There i^ no doubt whatever that the Hau Haus who knew of Major M'Donnell's arrival in the district, had watched him going to Waingonora with 3fr. Oarrington and Wirihanaand laid the ambuscade next day for this party — as barely 20 minutes before they Tfvero attacked — lliroa Military Train Orderlies were allowed to pass unscathed.

What would have been the horrible fate of LluDonnoll, Carrington, aad Wirihana, had they been trapped, wo lcavo our readers to imagine.