E—No. 7

B. H. Turton, Esq.

Ilenry Ililse, Esq.

any little misconduct which they may have shown during the war. The boastful and insulting language sometimes addressed to them by low-minded Europeans, has often been quite sufficient, in my opinion, to excite them against us as a race. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, H. Hanson Turton, R.N. The Native Secretary. No. 4. WAIKATO. REPORT FROM HEXRY HALSE, ESQ., RESIDENT MAGISTRATE. Auckland, 16th October, 1861. Sir,— In reply to your circular letter of the 7th August last, received by me on the lOtli instant, calling for information with reference to the present state of the Natives in my district, I have the honor to state for the information of His Excellency the Governor, that I much regret it is not in my power to offer a favourable report of them, either with regard to their sentiments towards the Government or towards Europeans generally. The recent unprovoked proceedings of some of the Upper Waikato Tribes at Taranaki are so well known, that it does not appear necessary to encumber this report with reference to them. It may, however, be proper to remark that so far as my observations enable me to judge, no sign of regret or repentance is visible amongst them for the wrongs committed on that occasion, nor does there appear to be any intention to accept the terms offered them in Governor Browne's declaration of the 21st of May last. On the contrary, from all I can learn, they will refuse to abandon the Maori King, and in refusing that, virtually refuse everything. At the same time, there are some who express a desire for peace, in the hope that a general pardon will be granted to all who have taken up arms against the Government. What effect the division at present existing amongst them, on the subject of lowering the King's flag, will produce on the minds of the ultra-Kingites, remains to be seen. Divided as they are, any movement towards Waikato, either for the purpose of taking that flag or making a road through their country, would at once unite them. 'New Zealand for the New Zealanders.'is a common expression with disaffected Natives, and explains in a great measure the true meaning of the King movement. What may have been the original object sought to be attained by the promoters of that movement, cannot now be very important. Natives have admitted to me that it was advanced step by step until it assumed a character so dangerous as to cause them uneasiness : and I am of opinion that it was designed by some for the destruction of the Pakehas, and the recovery of the country. Such a calamity was happily averted by the sale of a block of land at Waitara by Te Teira and other Ngatiawa Natives, and though the result ot that sale occasioned the war at Taranaki and the destruction of that Province, the Colony, in my opinion, has been saved by it. Had that offer been rejected, matters might have gone on as before, until " the pa was finished ;" in other words, until the union of all or nearly all the tribes was effected; then there is reason to believe that a considerable portion of the Natives would have been prepared to strike a simultaneous blow at all the English settlements in the Northern Island. With regard to the Natives of Lower Waikato, it may be useful to state that during the war at Taranaki, they sympathised with their countrymen, and rejoiced at the reports of the disasters of the military, tvhich were magnified in a manner almost surpassing belief ; and had hostilities continued a little longer, my impression is, that neaily the whole of them, not even excepting Ngatiteata, would have cleared out for Taranaki. It has been well said, (1 save us from our friends," and I would earnestly suggest caution with these people, who are Kingites almost to a man, in spite of the friendly feeling with which many of them look upon us: and I think there can be no reasonable doubt that they remained at home for the purpose of watching our movements, and to act as a barrier against a possible march into Waikato, which would have seriously embarrassed their friends who were in arms against the Government. It is, unquestionably, a matter of deep regret, that after so much care and attention has been bestowed on these people, with a view to their advancement and preservation, so little good has been effected; and that, notwithstanding all said and written to the contrary, a large proportion of them cling to the idea that the Government intend to seize upon their country. The principal question which has occupied and agitated the Natives during the past few years, and occasioned so much jealousy, is the influx of Europeans into the country. They have seen large ships crowded with passengers enter this and other harbours with regularity and apparently without restriction, conveying ar. impression that the Pakehas must be numberless ; and as they attach very great importance to numbers, an idea got rooted in their minds that the Pakehas would overrun their country, and finally drive them to the mountains. This filled them with distrust, and likely enough suggested the formation of the Land League, in the expectation of checking immigration and maintaining their numerical superiority. This League afterwards merged into the King movement ;v. hich was first adopted by some Chiefs of great ability and leading position among the race, in the hope of conferring on their countrymen the benefits of Government, but which found its life and support among (he Maories in general from the jealousy and fear of losing their independence, as I have pointed

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REPORTS ON THE STATE OF THE NATIVES