21

A.—No. 3.

212. Did you not warn mo not to sleep at Kauae on the night above mentioned, saying, " I will not let you sleep here; Ido not trust the speeches of these Hauhaus?" —I merely said, "Let us return to Waingongoro to sleep," but I did not mean thereby to give any warning: at the same time tho village was full of Hauhaus. 213. That same night, at Kauae, did not Wi Hukanui explain to the Natives assembled that I did not send the bottle of rum, with the cartridge, the percussion cap, and the white handkerchief? —I know nothing about a bottle of rum ; but Ido know about the cartridge and cap. I have heard that the people of Kauae sent a bottle of rum, but I do not know who was the individual who sent it. 214. Did not Wi Hukanui, when he came to Waingongoro to tell me that Natanahira would not come, ask me to allow a lad, alleged to be the son of Hone Pahama, to return with us along the high road to Manawapou, as far as the cross road to Otapawa? —Yes; it is perfectly correct. That lad had come with Wi Hukanui from Kauae to Waingongoro; but when the detachment reached the cross road to Otapawa he did not leave it to go to Otapawa, but ho accompanied the detachment to Manawapou. 215. Did the Imperial Troops at Patea, Manawapou, and Waingongoro, furnish escorts for convoys before the attack upon Pokaikai, and did the Local Forces assist in this duty ?—Yes, they did. 216. The Chairman.] Did you, after the Pokaikai affair, obtain leave of absence and visit your friends in Wanganui ? —Yes. 217. Did you write a letter to Mete Kingi?—Yes ; I did. Mete Kingi was in Wellington, and I wrote that letter from Wanganui. 218. What did you mean by comparing yourself to a dog in that letter ? —I compared myself to a dog because ho goes to catch a pig when he is ordered to do so. 219. Do you think that the dog in that case does any wrong ? —There is no fault in the dog, because he merely does what he is bidden to do. 220. When you saw the body of Aperahama lying dead at Pokaikai, did you use expressions of joy, saying to Lieut.-Colonel McDonnell, " Tou Ika, Tou Ika?" —Yes; I did. The meaning of that phrase is this: Aperahama was descended from Pikauterangi, the head Chief of the Ngatiruanui tribe; consequently his son, viz., Aperahama, was the fish of the net. 221. Had Natanahira kept his promise, and followed the advice of the Lieut.-Colonel and yourself, and accompanied Wi Hukanui to Waingongoro, would the attack upon Pokaikai have been made ? — In that case there would have been no attack. 222. Mr. Commissioner Graham.] The letter bearing date 18th August, 1866, purporting to be signed by you, has been read to you. Did you write that letter, and if so, are the contents true and correct? —I wrote the letter with my own hand. There is one error in the letter, and that is the part about the bottle of spirits. Perhaps I have given a different version of the story, but I acknowledge the letter to be mine.

Aperaniko Continued.

Weijjngton, Wednesday, 12th August, 1868. Eangiwhakaanga, having been duly sworn, was examined. 223. The Chairman?] What is your name, where do you reside, and to what tribe do you belong ? —My name is Sophia; I reside at Aramoho, near Wanganui ; and I belong to the Patutokotoko hapu of the Wanganui tribe. lam the wife of Arapata. 224. Are you called by any other name ? —They sometimes call mo Mohi, and sometimes they call me Bangiamohia ; but my proper name is Eangiwhakaanga. 225. Did you ever proceed to Pokaikai, about two years ago?— Yes, I did go to Pokaikai. 226. State what you know about your visit to Pokaikai. —One day, before tho attack upon Pokaikai, I was with my husband, who was at the time serving with the Native Contingent at the camp of Manawapou. We both started on horseback, and when we reached Ilawera my husband returned to Manawapou, and I continued my journey alone. When I approached Pokaikai I met some of the Pokaikai people ; they were on their way to shoot cattle at Taiporoheuui. When they saw mo they returned with me to Pokaikai. It was about noon. When I reached Pokaikai I went to tho house of Martha, the wife of Natanahira. All the people of the village came to Martha's house, and I gave them, a letter which Lieut.-Colonel McDonnell had entrusted to me to deliver to them. After they had read the contents of the letter, the man who read the letter then said, It will not do for us to go there yet; we had better wait till Natanahira comes back from Taranaki, then all the people will go there to carry food. Tukino was the person who said this. He said to me, It is well that you came to Pokaikai, and did not go to Keteonetea, otherwise they would have stripped you of jour clothes and taken away your horse ; you had better give us payment for your having broken through our Kati; by Kati I mean the line which tho Hauhaus draw on the ground praying to their God, and this line constitutes the boundary which no one not a Hauhau may cross. I became alarmed, and I gave Tukino two shillings, which I believe to bo the usual toll. Martha had cooked some food for me, of which I had partaken. The people of Pokaikai, after I had paid the two shillings, caused my horse to be saddled, and I rode away back to the camp at Manawapou ; Hamiora accompanied me back to camp. On my return to camp, 1 told Lieut.-Colonel McDonnell what had passed. It was about sunset when I reached camp. I told Lieut.-Colonel McDonnell what I have detailed above. 227. Did you make any complaint to Lieut.-Colonel McDonnell, or to your husband, or to the men of the Native Contingent, on your arrival in camp, of tho treatment which you had received? —I made no complaint; I merely said what I have detailed above. 228. Have you any relatives at Pokaikai?—-Yes ; my mother belonged to their hapu. 229. How came Tukino to make you pay toll if you were related to the villagers ?—I cannot tell; but I suppose they made me pay toll because I was on the side of the Government, and they were Hauhaus, and they had held no intercourse with Europeans, —had not even seen a European since the beginning of hostilities. 6

Jlangivyhakaanga.