E.—No. 8.

10

PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE PAI MAIURE,

A few days after the death of Captain Lloyd, whose blood had been drunk, his head cut off and buried, the Angel Gabriel appeared to those who had partaken of the blood, and by the medium of Captain Lloyd's spirit, ordered the head to be exhumed, cured in their own wav, and taken throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand; that from henceforth this head should be the medium of man's communication with Jehovah. These injunctions were carefully obeyed, and immediately the head was taken up it appointed Te TJa to be high priest, and Epauaia and Rangitauira to be assistants, and communicated to them in the most solemn manner the tenets of this new religion, namely—The followers shall be called " Pai Marire." The Angel Gabriel, with his legions, will protect them from their enemies. The Virgin Mary will constantly be present with them. The religion of England, as taught by the Scriptures, is false. The Scriptures must all be burnt. All days are alike sacred, and no notice must be taken of the Christian Sabbath. Men and women must live togther promiscuously, so that their children may be as the sand of the sea shore for multitude. The priests have superhuman power, and can obtain for their followers complete victories, by uttering vigorously the word " Hau." The people who adopt this religion will shortly drive the whole European population out of New Zealand; this is only prevented now by the head not having completed its circuit of the whole land. Legions of angels await the bidding of the priests to aid the Maoris in exterminating the Europeans. Immediately the Europeans are destroyed and driven away, men will be sent from heaven to teach the Maoris all the arts and sciences now known by Europeans. The priests have the power to teach the Maoris the English language in one lesson, provided certain stipulations are carefully observed, namely, the people to assemble at a certain time, in a certain position, near a flag-staff of a certain height, bearing a flag of a certain colour. However absurdly such ideas present themselves to the European mind, they nevertheless prevail and obtain among the Kingites of the Patea portion of this district ; and as Rimitiriu has given his assent to such, I recommend his dismissal. I would instance some of the cruelties and absurdities practised by the followers of this new religion. Whilst Rangitanira was at the Waitoto Pa, a native attempted to steal the head of Captain Lloyd, for which he was so furiously beaten that his life was dispaired of. Another native, for the same offence, was taken to a creek and drawn to and fro under a canoe, and left, to all appearance, lifeless. An old Maori woman had purchased some articles of clothing, in the town of Whanganui, which had been wrapped up in a newspaper; Eangitanira obtained this paper, and to display his miraculous gift, read it aloud in a jargon which the crowd was assured was the English language. When he had finished reading, he obligingly interpreted to them that this was an English newspaper, giving an account of the Waitotara war, in which the number of soldiers killed was 3,800, and the number of friendly natives 400—of these last 40 were William King's people ; and that the Queen wished it to be perfectly understood that when the present war was over, all the surviving friendlynatives should be used as beasts of burden, or to sweep the streets and cleanse the most filthy localities in European towns. I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Native John White, R.M., Department, Auckland. Central Whanganui.

Sib, — Court House, Central Whanganui, May 2nd, 18(54. I have the honor to report that on Saturday last three Natives, of the new sect " Pai Marire," came into this town to repeat some of their incantations preparatory to the advent of a legion of angels, who are to destroy the European population of this place, on the 4th instant. As these men were in company with one Paraone, who had taken the oath of allegiance and given up his gun, I gave him a reprimanding for being in such company. Judging from my report, No. 96, the object of these men is obvious. I shall not be surprised, therefore, if in their madness some rash act be committed which may disturb the peace of this district. I have, &c, The Hon the Colonial Secretary, Native Department, Auckland. John White, E.M.

Sie, — Court-House, Central Whanganui, June 9th, 1864. I have the honour to report, that, since the Moutoa battle, the Kingite natives of this district are not so saucy as they were. Tamati Waka of Ohinemutu, up Whanganui, has been with our people at Kanaeroa, and told them there will be no fighting on account of those who fell at Moutoa; but in a letter to the Putiki Assessors he says, that if the Governor take the prisoners to Auckland there will be payment required. Rio of Pakaraka was in to ask if I would go to Pakaraka to meet Te Ua (the high-priest of the new religion) ; he also brought a small white flag from Te Ua, the object of which he was unable to explain, and I therefore sent it back. Te Ua also told Rio to tell me that he wished to give a piece of land near Tataraimaka for the sins of the Taranaki tribes. To the invitation I sent the following answer : As Te Ua was in the attacking party when Captain Lloyd was killed, if he will give himself up to me to be dealt with according to law, I will receive him. To the overture of land I answered : If Te Ua would put his ideas on paper I would forward them to the Government, but that I could not hold any verbal communication with him on the subject. Mr. Booth informs me, on the 4th inst., " I do not think there will be any more fighting here (up the river), but I shall be able to tell you more in two or three days. Topine and Tohana are in Whangnnui (at the head of the river), on their way back from Waikuto. The (our) men are building a good pa at Eanana, and also one here (at Kauaeroa). Pehi is still at Ohutahi; he does not seem to be taking any decided part in this quarrel. These (our) people say, if the " Haw Haw " (new religion people) are sent from Pipiriki to Waitotara, they will make peace." Hata, policeman of Pakaraka, informed me that he had been to Perakama, and, judging from what he saw, Te Ua has about 100 men in that place. Hata was the bearer of a summons for a native now with Te Ua for a debt of £12, 3s. 8d., which was admitted to be correct, and the defendant had to pay as much of the debt as he could by Te Ua's order, —which Hata brought to the Resident Magistrate's Court. Paora, son of Epiha Patapu. arrived here to-day from Ohoutahi, having on his way delivered a