E.—No. 1.

au te korero atu kia koe engari mate tangata ano i taua korero c whakaatu ki a koe. E hoa, ko te mate nei tenei ko tc tinihanga a Te AVheoro j na inaianei kei te raruraru au mo te puta nui mai o te kupu ki au kihai koe i patai marire mai ki au ka whakaatnria ano c au tau 1 patai ai kite pai koe kia whakawakia au hei Waikato te whakawakanga ara hei Te Kohekohe. E hoa kei te he koe engari ko au kei te mohio. Heoi ano kahuri. Na Mom Te Aiii-a-te-N ay. [tHAN'SI-ATIO'.I Mom Te Ahi-a-te-Not to Hia Excellency tlie Goveexok. Fbeend, the &OTBBHOB,— Te Kirikiri, April 23rd, 1863. Salutations. T received your letter on the 23rd March. Your questioning me is correct. Ton say that lam either to have my conduct investigated, or write a letter to explain it. Friend, this is my consent (answer) to your" first question. (What I said) referred to the \\ wiato disputes ; it was not intended to hinder you or to obstruct Wiremu Wheoro's work on your side. No! it referred to Wheoro's deceit towards you and towards Waikato. There is another important thing which i have heard, but which I cannot make known to you. the man who has the korero must communicate it himself Friend, the trouble was caused by Wheoro's deceit, and now lam perplexed because of your speaking so sevcrclv tome instead of questioning me quietly, and let! ing me answer your questions. If you wish to investigate my conduct, let the investigation take place at Waikato, that is, at tne Kohekohe. Friend, you are in error, but I understand. Enough. from Mom Tb Ahi-a-te-Ngv. Letter of same tenor and date from Ihaka Te Tihi. No. 48. J. Aem itage, Esq., to the Hon. the Native Mixistee. Dear Sic- Rauwhitu, 23rd March, 1868. I returned from Auckland via Kohekohe on the 20th instant, aud found le Wheoro had gone to town, but was informed by the Natives there, that a Taua party was coining fromEangirinto return the timber to the la. I asked the reason, they said Mr. Gorst had an interview with the natives at Eaneiriri and told them that the School building was partly for himself and the Governor, and partly for the Natives, and therefore they were sure it was intended for a Soldiers' Barracks, the more so as Te Wheoro had agreed with them that they should have one-half the building, and he and his tribe the other half. I proceeded on and met Herewini (the only chief of Te Wheoro's tribe who has joined the King people) ;he confirmed tho above statement. I afterwards met the Taua party proceeding to the Cohekohe, but they did not interfere with mo ; their subsequent proceedings you will have heard trom other sources. Had not Mr. Gorst been in the district, I should have remained at the Kohekohe to report proceedings to you, but hearing that ho had only preceded me the day before, I supposed the matter was in his hands, and therefore returned home. I have since ascertained he went on to Otawhao, ar.d I regret much I did not remain at the Kohekohe to watch the proceedings. With reference to the course of action you may deem it advisable to adopt in this affair as regards the King natives, I would earnestly recommend you to be very cautious, as there is an extraneous native element introduced of which you may not be aware. _ I allude to the old feud at Te Ihutaroa near Taupari, which resulted m the battle there in 184b. The contending parties in this fight were, on one side. Ngatitipa and Ngatitahmga on the west coast Ngatinaho and the Ngaungau (my own tribe) ; on the other side, Ngatipou and the subdivisions ot that tribe, including I think Ngatitapa (of whom my friend Muru is the head), Ngatihme and Ngatiteata of Waiuku. . , . , When 1 met the Taua, which consisted of Ngatipou, Ngatitapa. Ngatlhine, and a few others, all told, say one hundred, I noticed that there were none of the chiefs of the Ngaungau or their young men among them. Afterwards I met six of these chiefs in a small canoe, without the usual symbols ot a war party; I enquired the reason and was privately told that Arama Karaka ot the Ngatihme, had urged hi s tribe to go to the Kohekohe, and revenge their former defeat and dead bodies slam at the Ihutaroa, consequents, the Ngaungau had determined to be neutral, as they would not desert their old allies, and yet could not fight against the King people. Heta took all the young men of the Ngaungau with him on Saturday morning to the Kohekohe, with the object of preventing them irom joining the King people, or as he said, of getting into mischief. . Te Wheoro may or may not have told you of this feud as one of the causes ot action against him, or he may be unaware of it; at any rate you wiil consider the information as private as regards the native side or Te Wheoro, as far as lam concerned. There appear to me to be three principal causes that have actuated the King people in these proceedings :— Ist A desire of display and to emulate the deeds of Upper Waikato, etc., at Taranaki. \V iremu Kumete, of Ngatimahuta at Kawhia, aud who bas been one of the principal instigators in this affair, can have no other motive. 2nd Mr. Gorst's declaration in contradiction of Te Wheoro's agreement with them, that part ot the building was for the Governor and part for Natives, convincing them that the budding was intended for a Soldiers' Barracks. 3rd. The Ihutaroa feud being revived. . . The two latter are the principal causes, and number 2, the assigned cause. Mr. I ulloon has just called hereon his way to Ngaruawahia, he tells me that the timber is all to be returned to-day, that no white men are to be 'allowed to return to Auckland from Waikato (T think this is only bounce), and that they are going to seize and keep the mail bag from Auckland. ~,,,_ , , . Another serious matter which has occurred in Lower A\ aikato before the Taua party started, is the stoppage by them of European canoes at Kangiriri, and searching all the boxes, cases, goods parcels of every description, for wine, beer, or spirits. The Hon/F. D. Bell. * ollr* faithfully, m haste, J. Armitage.

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