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appointments under Her Majesty and have recently professed to adopt his Excellency's plan of Civil Institution; I refer in particular to Arama Karaka, one of the leadrng Chiefs who have joined Matiu. This intelligence is a source of deep regret and pain to the Government. It is greatly to be regretted that men of good character who have so recently professed loyalty to the Queen, and a desire to adopt civilized habits and institutions, should take part in the open violation of law. I have to request that you will without delay cause it to be publicly announced that his Excellency will regard these violent proceedings with the utmost displeasure ; that all persons engaged in them will be considered unfit to hold appointments under Her Majesty; and that payment of their salaries will be withheld. You will be good enough to cause this to be communicated direct to the parties concerned, and generally to be made public throughout your District. I have, &c, Henry Sewell. The Civil Commissioner, Waimate. Letter of same tenor and date to W. B. White, Resident Magistrate, Mongonui.

No. 8. CIVIL COMMISSIONER, WAIMATE, TO THE HONORABLE THE NATIVE MINISTER. Waimate, June 5, 1862. Sir,— I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of the 27th ultimo, in reference to the disturbance between the Chiefs Tirarau and Matiu, and the measures the Government request me to adopt towards those Natives in the pay of the Government, who have taken part therein. Previously to the receipt of your letters I had upon my own responsibility intimated to the members of the Runanga, the impossibility of continuing the salary of any Native Officer taking part in any Native disturbance. By your letter, I feel enabled to do so authoritatively. While with the Government I deeply regret that respectable Chiefs and near relatives, as in the case with Tirarau and Matiu, should have had recourse to arms, to settle their disputed claims to lands ; and while I deprecate their conduct as disgraceful, and embarrassing to the Government, I cannot say that I have been taken by surprise. I have for some months been apprehensive, of such an event; and have omitted no opportunity to inform the Government, and to use my influence to avert it. By reference to my correspondence with the Government, it will be seen, that as soon as I became acquainted with the disagreement between these two Chiefs, I used every means within my power, and got every Native influence within my reach, to bear upon the case, in order to an amicable adjustment, and made several proposals to the Government for assistance, but from their letter of February 26, 18G2, I regret that I failed iu convincing them that my plans would be productive of good ; and I understood them that they not only stood aloof from any interference but requested that the land dispute referred to, should not form a subject of consideration for the Runanga about to meet at Waimate, without the consent of Tirarau ; and to the present day, I have not been able to learn what steps the Government had taken to prevent a collision, which appeared to me inevitable, from the temper of both Chiefs in reference to the disputed land. Nevertheless I continued my efforts with Matiu, and was so far successful, as to deter him from proceeding to cut his boundary line, which was to be the signal for hostilities on the part of Tirarau, for nearly three months. In the meantime, the Ngapuhi Chiefs wrote a conciliatory letter to Tirarau, offering their mediation to settle the dispute between the two Chiefs. Tirarau's reply, a copy of which was sent to me, appeared to the Ngapuhi Chiefs uninviting and repulsive, consequently they did not proceed to meet him as proposed ; I have since written several letters to both Tirarau and Matiu, offering further services ; and last week induced Hongi, and several other Ngapuhi Chiefs, to go to Wairoa to prevent further hostilities, with I hope some prospect of success. Having as briefly as possible narrated the steps I have taken, to bring this untoward event to a close, attaching as I do, fault on both parties, I beg to offer a few general remarks, with a view to remove what appears to me, an erroneous impression upon the minds of the Government in, reference to the conduct of Ngapuhi Chiefs. With the information I possess, I should have hesitated charging the Ngapuhi with attacking Tirarau ; vice verm, if Matiu is to be considered as Ngapuhi, then Tirarau according to his repeated threats, attacked Ngapuhi, for it is beyond a doubt, that when Matiu proceeded to mark what he considered his boundary line, he was immediately met and opposed by Tirarau, when hostilities commenced. The Government will I am sure be pleased to be corrected upon another point; namely, that instead of a large body of Ngapuhi joining Matiu to attack Tirarau, but a very small party of Ngapuhi, say fifty at most, have joined him ; and when it is remembered, that Ngapuhi can muster and number more than 3,000 fighting men, the fifty which have joined Matiu, may be considered a very small part of the tribe ; I fear a veiy much larger portion of the Ngapuhi have joined Tirarau to attack Matiu, in addition to which, Ngapuhi states that Tirarau has employed a large number of Rotorua Natives, their old enemies, to oppose Matiu.

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NATIVE AFFAIRS.