THE NATIVE CONTINGENT, (REPORTS FROM OFFICERS OF).

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1874 Session I, H-12a

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1874. NEW ZEALAND.

THE NATIVE CONTINGENT, (REPORTS FROM OFFICERS OF).

Presented to loth Souses of the General Assemlly ly command of Sis Excellency.

No. 1. Captain Maie to the Acting Under Secbetaey, Defence Department. Sie, — Armed Constabulary Depot, Wellington, 28th July, 1874. I have the honor to enclose, for your information, my annual report on the duties performed by the Native Contingent under my command, for the year ending 30th June, 1874. Average Strength of Officers and Men. —1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 1 sergeant-major, 1 sergeant, 3 corporals, 1 bugler, 3 mounted orderlies, and 38 foot. Nature of Parades and Drills. —lnspection and Divine Service parade, with arms and accoutrements, every Sunday, at 10 a.m. Marching order parade every Thursday, at 6.30 a.m. Bathing parades every Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday, at 6.30 a.m. Muster parade, last day of every month. Occasional drill. Operations in the Field. —Nothing has been required from the force, under this head, during the past year. Conveying Mails and Despatches. —No public mails have been conveyed. The mounted orderlies have performed a large amount of work, conveying telegrams, despatches, &c, to Government officers in the district. An orderly goes to Tapuaeharuru once a week ; also to Eotorua, Tauranga, Te Teko, Galatea, Cambridge, and other places as occasion requires. One mounted orderly is stationed at Rotorua Telegraph Station. He carries telegrams, &c, daily to Ohinemutu, Wairoa, and other places. Escorts and Guards. —Members of the force have frequently given assistance to the Native Police. Guards of honor were furnished at Wairoa on the occasion of the Hon. the Defence Minister's visit, December, 1873, and also at Ohinemutu, Niho o te Kiore, and Wairoa, during His Excellency the Governor's visits in March and April last. Escorts have twice been sent to Tauranga and Taupo with prisoners. A twenty-four-hours' guard of 1 non-commissioned officer and 3 men is posted daily on the redoubt at Niho o te Kiore. Making and Improving Target Ranges. —A good range was made at Niho o te Kiore, and wooden targets, markers' butts, &c, erected. Issuers and Storekeepers, Sfc. —One constable from the Armed Constabulary is attached to the force. Erection of Redoubts and Stockades. —The old camp at Kaiteriria has been abandoned, and the men stationed there have been moved to Tikitapu Lake, road making. Occasional repairs, a stout palisading round the redoubt at Niho o te Kiore, and building a magazine, is all that has been done under this head. Civil Duties. Prevention of Grime, fyc. —Detachments of men have been detailed to attend the various large meetings held in the district during the past year, and have assisted materially to preserve order. Useful Works. —An officers' mess-hut has been built, also cook-houses and baking oven; orderly room and men's huts repaired, and chimneys built. Two ferry canoes have also been built by the men. Public Works. —The amount of road work performed by the force is shown in the return attached. Remarks. —The general character and behaviour of the men have been very good indeed. I have remarked that men who have served some time in the force, upon being discharged, always appear much superior to the other Natives, and evidently profit by being taught habits of cleanliness. The Arawa generally look upon the force with great favour, and any number of good men could be enrolled at a few hours' notice. Great inconvenience has been felt at the want of proper clothing for the men. I would strongly recommend that the camp at Niho o te Kiore be abandoned, and a post at Parekarangi or Eotorua established. The huts at present occupied by the men are very bad. There is no material for building good ones. The nearest bush is six miles distant, and firewood has to be carried a number of miles on the men's backs. If the force is to remain at the present camp, it will be necessary to purchase a cart and two horses for their use. I—H. 12a.

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The present price of rations at Niho o te Kiore is Is, 4d., which is rather expensive for the men. I would have sent in this report sooner, but was waiting for Lieutenant Way to furnish me with June road work returns. I have, &c, Lieut.-Colonel Moule, G-ilbeet Maie, Captain N.Z.M., Acting Under Secretary, Defence, Wellington. Commanding Native Contingent.

RETURN showing AMOUNT of WORK performed by CAPTAIN MAIR'S NATIVE CONTINGENT, for the Year commencing 1st July, 1873, and ending 30th June, 1874. Tauranga, Taupo, and Rotorua-Tarawera Roads.

No. 2. Captain Peeece (per Major Eobeets) to the Undee Seceetaet, Defence Department. Sib,— Te Teko, 29th June, 1874. In accordance with instructions contained in your Memorandum, Armed Constabulary No. 208-73, I have the honor to forward the following report of the duties performed by the Company of Native Contingent under my command, from the Ist of June, 1873, to the 31st of May, 1874, for the information of the Hon. the Defence Minister:— Militaet Duties. Average Strength—The average strength during the past year has been: 1 captain, 1 subaltern, 1 sergeant-major, 2 sergeants, 2 corporals, 4 mounted, and 41 foot privates. Parades and Drills. —Parades at 8 a.m. for fatigues, namely, road work, fencing, making and repairing barracks, and other duties. Inspection parades at each post, in heavy marching order, every Sunday (weather permitting). Drill with arms and accoutrements, in company and skirrnishin'f drill

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Cubic Yards. Remarks. Name of Road. Nature of Work, &o. Date. Eock. Earth. 1873 July ... „ August ... September 300 30 370 290 645i 265 Atiamuri, Te Ana a tu hape, and Waia Hine Maru approaches. Ten men also employed four days repairing road between Rahopaka and Atiamuri. Eock excavating at Te Tuahu. Also, repairing and re-forming 40 chains road near Taumata (fourteen men, ten days). Excavating quartz boulders and hard sandstone, Atiamuri Bridge. Putting down ten culverts at Te Tuahu. Also, forming and repairing 41 chains road at Tangihanga, damaged by flood. Excavating hard rock, Atiamuri Bridge approaches. Forming 18 chains road, 22 feet wide, at Taumata, and removing large land-slips at Te Tuahu and Tangihanga. Side cuttings. Excavating hard and soft sandstone rock at Tuahu cutting and Atiamuri Bridge approaches ; also removing land-slips from water-ways, &c. Forming 10 chains road, 22 feet wide, which had been washed entirely away by heavy flood, on 16th and 17th of month, from Te Taumata to Atiamuri Bridge. Repairing 11 chains washed away at Tuahu, Tangihanga, and Maungatutu. No road work performed in December; men otherwise employed. October... 203| November 2431 December 1874 January... February March ... 600 973 700 907 640 669 1118 850 1000 488| Rotorua-Tarawera Road: clearing fallen trees, bush, and fern; making cutting 5 x 4, 27 chains long. Repairing road at Taumata; clearing away land-slips ; forming road 18 feet wide, 7 chains long. Repairing Road at Tangihanga. Rotorua-Tarawera Road. Tauranga-Taupo Road: formation, 20 feet wide, 7 chains, at Taumata. Also, work at Tuahu. Widening Tikitapu Road; heavy side-cutting. Taumata Road. Tikitapu and Rauporoa. Side-cutting, embankment, formation, and block-cutting. Tikitapu Road ; heavy side-cutting. Tikitapu Road. Extra repairs to roads between Tangihanga and Tuahu. April „ ... May 71 June 45 ,, 1238i 112861 A. C. Depot, Wellington, 28th July, 1874. Gilbert Maib, Captain N.Z.M., Commanding Native Contingent.

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at each post, every Wednesday and Saturday. One officer, 2 non-commissioned officers, and 19 privates, proceeded to the Armed Constabulary Depot at Wellington on the 21st of January, and returned on the 15th of June, having been put through a course of drill and musketry instruction while there. The remaining portion were put through class firing at their own posts. Mails and Despatches. —A mounted man leaves Te Teko every Monday to meet the Armed Constabulary orderly at Matata, and waits there until the arrival of the mail on the following day. Communication is kept up between Te Teko and Tauranga, and Te Teko and Fort Galatea, Kaiteriria, Opepe, and Ahikereru, by mounted men of the force. Guards and Escorts. —A guard of 1 non-commissioned officer and 3 privates mount daily at each post. One escort was furnished on the 4th of January, in charge of a civil prisoner, to Maketu. Targets and Ranges. —Wooden targets have been made as required; they will be shortly replaced by iron ones from Wellington. New markers' butts have been made at each post. Erection of Stockades and Redoubts. —A strong manuka palisading, bound with aha vine, has been «rected round the new redoubt. The following substantial wooden buildings have been completed:— One barrack-room, 46 feet X 16 feet, with partition for sergeant-major's quarters, 10 feet X 16 feet, and men's quarters, 36 feet X 16 feet. One pumice chimney has been made in each room ; wooden bedsteads have been made. One building, 68 feet x 12 feet, with partitions for orderly room, issuer's store, tool store, guard-room, men's quarters, and reading-room. This house has been completed, with the exception of chimneys, and one partition. Both buildings are floored. Officers' quarters have been finished outside the redoubt. They consist of a cottage 32 feet X 12 feet, with one front room and two bedrooms, lined and floored. The old redoubt has been levelled, and the raupo houses destroyed. A large parade ground has been made, covered with gravel. New mess whares (raupo), with wooden tables and forms, have been made. At Fort Galatea, the raupo houses have been altered and repaired. Wooden houses will be built as soon as there is sufficient timber available. The redoubt has been repaired. Public and Useful Works. —The following road work has been done during the year, full details of which appear in the Schedule hereunto attached: —Formation, 39 chains; felling timber, 9 chains ; stumping and clearing logs, 8 chains ; fascining, 10 chains ; draining and ditching, 21 chains ; side cutting, 7,017 cubic yards ; embankment, 537 cubic yards ; filling in on fascines, 368 cubic yards. The total number of cubic yards of earth removed during the year was 7,922. Four wooden culverts have been made: two, 12 feet x 12 feet; one, 12 feet x 9 feet; and one, 18 feet x 18 feet; each 27 feet long; one bridge culvert, 16 feet long 15 feet wide ; 4 stringers, 12 feet x 4 feet; two cills, 9 feet X 4 feet; and four piles, 9 feet x 9 feet; hand-rails and braces, timber cut by members of the Native Contingent, and drawn by bullock dray fourteen miles. In order to drain the Okauneke Swamp into the Tarawera Eiver, it was found necessary to make a ditch 5 feet wide and 4 feet deep, 21 chains in length. In addition to the above work, sixteen men were employed for twelve days in repairing portions of the Te Teko and Richmond Eoad, which had been damaged by heavy rain. Fencing Paddocks and Sowing Grass. —The Government boundary fence mentioned in my last annual report has been completed. It consists of 29 chains of ditch and bank, with post and rail fence. Twenty-three chains of post and rail fence have been put up inside the old paddock, 10 chains of which is enclosed with palings. Strong gateway posts have been erected to the redoubt; also, a substantial flagstaff, with cross-tree. The barracks and officers' quarters have been painted. At Te Teko, 2 acres of land have been ploughed and laid down in grass. At Fort Galatea, 9£- acres have been ploughed, cleared, and laid down in grass. At Fort Galatea, 677 totara posts have been split to fence in Government land, which can be enclosed by one boundary fence of 60 chains ; 160 posts and 320 rails were split at Ohui, and carted down to this post. The Government bullock dray has been employed in carting timber from the saw-pits at Fort Galatea and Ohui, also in conveying pumice for chimneys and fascines for road work. The Government whale-boat has become unserviceable, and timber has been cut for a new one, which is now being built by a member of the force. After the new boat is completed, the old one will be repaired as much as possible and be used for ferry work. With regard to the discipline and control of the force, I beg respectfully to suggest that they be properly embodied, either under the Armed Constabulary or Militia Acts. I cannot speak too highly of the "behaviour of the men during the last year. The force has been equipped with new sets of accoutrements, and are now clothed in the same uniform as the Armed Constabulary. I would again beg to suggest that, in the event of their services being required in the field, they be armed with the Snider carbine instead of the long rifle. I have, &c, Major Roberts, Geoege Peeece, Commanding Tauranga District. Captain, Commanding Native Contingent.

No. 3. Captain Peeece (per Major Robebts) to the Under Secbetaey, Defence Department. Sib,— Te Teko, 29th June, 1874. I have the honor to forward the following report of all road work done by my Company of Native Contingent, from the Ist of June, 1873, to the 31st of May, 1874, for the information of the Hon. the Defence Minister: — The men have been employed principally on the Te Teko and Fort Galatea Eoad, but have not been able to do any road work since January, in consequence of a detachment of one captain and twenty men having been absent on duty in Wellington from the 21st of January until the 15th of June, and there not being more than sufficient men to carry on the ordinary camp duties. The following work has been done at Ohui:—Side cutting, 7,017 cubic yards ; formation, 31 chains ; felling heavy bush, 9 chains ; clearing and stumping, 8 chains. This was a very heavy piece of work, the cutting being on an average 30 feet deep, and large trees had to be dug out and cleared away. Two culverts 12 feet X 12 feet, and 27 feet long, have been made on this road.

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Fort Galatea and Taupo Road. —Formation, 8 chains ; embankment, 2 chains. Te Teho and Richmond Road.— lt was found necessary to dig a drain from the Okauneke Swamp intothe Tarawera Eiver, in order to take the water off the road, which was perfectly inundated, there being no outlet. A ditch, 21 chains long and 5 feet X 4 feet, has been made, and 10 chains of fascines laid on the road, and 917 cubic yards filled in on the fascines ; the earth had to be conveyed by canoe for a considerable distance. Embankment, 7 chains 462 cubic yards ; one box culvert, 18 feet X by 18 feet, has also been made ; one bridge culvert, 16 feet long x 15 feet wide ; four stringers, 12 feet x 4 feet ; two cills, 9 feet X 4 feet; and four piles, 9 feet x 9 feet; hand-rails and braces. The cills and stringers are fastened to the piles with iron bolts. The culverts and bridges have been repaired on the Titiwaroa Swamp ; the totara 2-inch planking being found to be too light for a heavy dray to pass over, it has been replaced with 3-inch plank. A portion of the timber for the bridges on Te Teko and Whakatane Eoad has been cut. These bridges will be built as soon as all the material is ready. I attach a Schedule with full details of the work performed; it will appear small when contrasted with my return of last year, but this will be accounted for by the fact that no men have been employed on the works since January, in consequence of the detachment being in Wellington. I have, &c, Geobge Peeece, Captain, The Under Secretary, Defence Department, Commanding Native Contingent. . "Wellington.

RETURN showing Amount of ROAD Work by CAPTAIN PREECE'S NATIVE CONTINGENT from the 1st of June, 1873, to the 31st of May, 1874.

Name of Road. Locality. Nature of Country. Description of Work. tn Q O 6 i IS -si ! o 6 ft Id Amount. Q Te Teko and Fort Galatea Fort Galatea „ „ Pokairoa ... „ „ Ohui >> » » >» » iy Pumice jj ... Red clay soil ... it Formation... 11 ... 20 Side cutting 5 330 20 2 244 „ 6 396 20 6 880 „ 3 198 20 5 366 „ 3 198 20 3 220 Formation... 4 ... 20 Side cutting 10 660 20 4 977 Formation... 14 ... 20 Side cutting 2 132 20 4 195 Formation... 2 ... 20 Side cutting 4 264 20 10 977 b'elling timber 4 ... 66 11 5 6 3 3 4 10 It 2 2 4 4 330 396 198 198 660 30 £ s. d. 5 10 0 5 18 18 6 8 7 12 6 4 11 8 2 0 0 20 7 1 7 0 0 4 13 10 0 20 7 1 4 0 0 t> » » ft » » » ■■■ t> Heavy timber... 132 53 12 3* t) )» J» J» )l • •• 1> » I) ii ... 264 j, » >> )) Heavy timber, red clay Pumice »» )> )) Side cutting ... 43 35 15 418 Formation... 8 ... 20 Embankment 2 132 20 2 195 Side cutting ... 92 21 18 644 ... 60 20 15 333 Felling ... 5 ... 66 Side cutting ... 51 25 6 141 „ 1 66 26 6 190 ... 30 26 9 148 Stumping and clearing ... 8 Side cutting ... 46 28 13 310 „ ... 56 28 10 290 2 132 28 10 684 Draining ... 15 Ditching ... 6 Fascining ... 6 Filling in on fascines ... 6.«ft440 15 1 244 Fascining ... 4 Embankment 7 462 20 1 342 Filling in 143 14 6 37 , 115 14 6 30 219 14 6 57 ance of 7 men employed, five days ... 43 8 14 2 4 0 0 7 6 3 13 8 4 6 18 9 5 0 0 2 18 9 3 19 2 3 18 Taupo Eoad ... ... Fort G-alatea 132 92 60 Te Teko and Fort Galatea Ohui tt 8 6 Clay 139 11 )> jt t> Heavy timber ... Heavy clay » » „ ... » )> j» 51 66 30 » » » j, )» 3> »» u j-146 13 » )J „ *» ••• 8 0 0 6 9 2 6 0 10 14 5 0 3 15 0 1 10 0 6 0 0 » » 1) ... » >» J) h ft \oi 39 86i 10 8 9 9 G h it n ••• Bicbmond and Te Teko Okauneke ... Swamp » » » >* •■• ] 98 S153 6 )» t> t> ti j> >> j> ••• it ... 8 12 4 0 4 0 0 17 2 0 1 17 0 1 10 0 2 17 0 8 15 0 20 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 3 10 0 10 0 j) » j> it ■•• „ „ Titiwaroa ... >j ••' 101i 7 ti I 52 5 >> »> ij it » >> » „ „ Okauneke and Repairing Te Teko and Otekiri Swamp B 1 Wooden box culvert at Fort Alfred, 1 „ „ Waikowhei 1 „ „ Ngatauawa 1 18-ineh culvert 1 Bridge culvert,* 16 feet long, 15 fe handrails, 4 I 3 jj ... i Otekiri, maintem 12 x 12, 27 feet lc tfhe, 12 x 9, 27 fee hine, 18 x 9, 27 fe< ong :t long :et long ... 12 9 set wide, 4 string) ;ers 12 x 4, 2 cills 9 x 4, 4 piles 9x9, 10 0 0 •Timber carted for bridge, 12 miles. G-eobgk Peeece, Captain, Commanding Native Contingent. Trice 3d.} By Authority; Gbobge Didsbuby, Government Printer, Wellington.—1874.