5

E—No. 3c

TO NATIVE AFFAIRS.

nature should be thought of or entered upon against Ihaia ma, excepting that it should happen again, that blood of their own should be shed by him or any of his tribe. The affair haying thus been brought to a definite termination, the Taranaki returned home, heartily glad in having succeeded in the object of their going, viz., in separating Ngatiruanui from the quarrels of Ruketepa, and in saving thereby also themselves from becoming involved in them. Not long after Arama Karaka vvith his party came up from the South; and it appears that on his way through Ngatiruanui he had given a kind of promise or assurance that he would not establish him on the disputed lands where Rawiri had fallen, but that he would only visit the spot, and take up his abode at Te Awetaone for a time, after which he would return again to the South. This promise he had subsequently not fulfilled, but had acted contrary to it. Then had followed next the affray in which Tapine had been killed, and in consequence of which Katatore had summoned the Ngatiruanuis to come up again and support him against Arama Karaka. But only the small Tangahoe party under Ta Rei, from amongst the Ngatiruanui tribe, who had never sincerely relinquished their work of going again, had responded to Katatore's call, whereas the bulk of the Ngatiruanuis, with Tamati Hone and all the Taranaki, have all along it seems condemned Te Rei's going as a " haere pohanoa" and as entirely contrary to the former agreement. Early in the month of June last a letter from the Waitara natives arrived here, inviting the whole of this Taranaki tribe to come at once to a grand Hakari-Maori prepared for those at Onaero and at Waitara. Every Rainga throughout this district commencing with Te Poutako and ending with Otumahao was mentioned and called by name. The letter bore several signatures, but the name of vViremu Kingi was omitted and did not appear once in the whole of that document, neither did the contents of t'.e letter intimate in the least for what reason and purpose the proposed feast was to be given to the Taranakis, though it seemed to be understood here as being intended as a return for the hospitality received here by Wiremu Kingi and his •* heke " in 1848. To me the absence of W. Kingi's name and other parts of the letter seemed very significant. I suspected it to be a concealed scheme of the latter to gain a full and favourable opportunity to get at this tribe, to sound their feelings in reference to the prevailing feuds, and to involve them, if possible, by attempting to enlist their sympathies and support on Katatore's side as the one favoured by him. It seems this people suspected something of the same kind ; hence all the Taranaki unanimously declined to go to the feast under present circumstances, and therefore left those who had invited them to consume their own favours and keep to themselves their own quarrels and disturbances to boot. The recent visit of the Ngatimaniapoto and the announced visit of the Waikato in Ngatiawa was viewed here throughout in a very unfavourable light as a kind of " paka noa." But as no Government Officer had called those strangers nor shown any marked favour to them afterwards, there was evidently not much importance attached by the Taranaki either to their coming or to their return. For the arrival of the troops the Taranaki natives had been previously in some degree prepared. The necessity had been pointed out to them of having a protective force to guard the European boundaries against the surrounding native disturbances, which daily threatened to break in upon and to interrupt the peace and safety of the whole settlement. The truth of this they appeared to perceive quite well enough to reconcile them to the presence of a large military force in New Plymouth. Immediately after the landing of the first detachment of troops from Auckland, we received the " Karere Maori" for the month of August, containing His Excellency Colonel Wynyard's letters, addressed to the Chiefs of Ngatiawa, Taranaki, and Ngatiruanui, and to the Chief of New Zealand. These letters were read with great avidity and discussed with the greatest interest, and the views and intentions of Te Kawena as explained in them, especially with regard to noninterference either on the part of the military or of strange tribes in the Puketapa strifes and disturbances, gave general satisfaction and therefore met with general approbation, and at the same time generally confirmed this tribe in their confidence that the Government in sending the troops has no other object in view than to keep the native quarrels from entering upon the lands of the Europeans and within the boundary of their settlement. But, since the last fortnight, those feelings of confidence hitherto entertained by the Taranaki tribe, and which had been so recently strengthened by His Excellency's letters, namely, that the Government on their part would not adopt any measures by which the peace between the two races (European and Aborigines) might be interrupted, those feelings of confidence have undergone a material change in the minds of this people, and they have begun to view the presence of the soldiers in a different light than on their first arrival here. Some passing remarks have been lately made here calling the sincerity of the peaceful professions set forth in His Excellency Colonel Wynyard's letter in question. lam glad to have reason to believe that every doubt of such a kind has been fully banished from the native mind before now though it has been succeeded by another and more engrossing doubt, namely, whether His Excellency Governor Browne (Te Kawana Hou) will be of the same opinion and intentions as His Excellency Col. Wynyard (Te Kawana Tawhiti), and hence maintain and abide by the policy adopted and hitherto followed out by the latter in reference to the Puketapu affairs. It is strongly apprehended that His Excellency Governor Browne will differ in his views and measures in this matter from His Excellency Colonel Wynyard, and that in all probability ere long his word will go forth to put the troops sent down here as a •protective force by the latter into an aggressive motion, and that thus a war between the Europeans .and the Aborigines will be commenced here.