A.—No. 1

48

DESPATCHES FROM THE GOVERNOR OF NEW

accounts of what took place vary considerably, as might be expected from the mixed nature of the meeting. The Natives who took a prominent part were Wi Hapi, a Ngatiraukawa chief, who has for the past three years been the head of a wandering body of disaffected Natives ; Bewi, the Ngatimaniapoto chief; and two Hauhaus prophets from Taranaki. The general meeting broke up on the 29th of January without any very decided expression of the immediate intentions of the King party in respect of peace or war. What may have occurred after those returned home, from whom trustworthy information could have been obtained, does not appear; but the fact that later accounts and later information of the results of the meeting are less favorable than those first circulated, indicates a certainly hostile feeling among the Kingite leaders, which they did not care to acknowledge too openly in the presence of a mixed assembly, but which was more openly expressed afterwards. Wi Tako, of Waikanae, who obtained his information from Natives who were present, and who would be likely from their own state of feeling to obtain a correct idea of the intentions of the King party, says — " The men who left this to attend that meeting have returned. They bring no news. This was " the only word: This is a year for the infirm, a year for the Lord, this year is a good year. The I* chief word spoken was by Eewi to the meeting. It was this —' Fighting must cease ; the sale of land " must cease ; leasing land must be put a stop to ; such doings as selling and leasing must cease ; then " only will peace be made.' " The account given in a letter of 20th February, by Here Mokena, a Waikato Native, whoso information has been previously very reliable, is to the same effect and in very similar words —" Killing must cease. The selling of land, and the leasing of land must cease. (Let the management be left to him). Jehovah, the Lord of Hosts is in Heaven. Peace will not bo established." Nehemia To Area used the same words. Coming from two independent sources, and corroborated by many other reports, these two letters may be taken to furnish a fair account of the subjects discussed. Prom this account, and from what I can gather from Natives in conversation, it appears that whether feigned or real (probably the latter), there was an expression of reluctance to renew hostilities, but at the same time the determination to maintain a strict isolation, and to obstruct the progress of European colonization was most decided. Whether this policy was intended at the time to extend to lands not hitherto included within the " aukati," or boundary lines of the King, is not so clear—probably it was not. Such a proposal would meet with little favor from a large body of the Natives, who without any attachment to English rule would not be prepared to give up the leasing and selling of their lands, which has, since the Native Lands Act has been in operation, become a passion among them. Other accounts state that the leaders of the King party refused to recognize the loss of the Waikato and the other confiscated lands, and this impression certainly prevails with Natives with whom I have talked on the subject (Mohi Ngaponga, Hohepa, Tamaihengia, and others). Of course, the making peace conditional upon the recovery of these lands would be tantamount to a declaration of war, a large part of them being in the hands of military settlers under Crown grant; but the meeting does not seem to have gone so far as that, but only to have expressed its adherence to a long cherished hope that the Maoris would recover their lands, coupling it with a notion fostered by their Hauhau prophets of some special interposition of Providence. On the whole there is little doubt that however ambiguously the conclusions of the meeting were veiled in the intentional obscurity which characterizes the utterances of the Hauhau Natives, the general effect is far from satisfactory. The very fact of a general meeting of this kind bespeaks a greater amount of organization than has heretofore existed among the Natives, and that of a large assemblage called together ostensibly for peace purposes there should have been no strong party in favor of European government, must have given considerable confidence to the King party. A marked change of manner, noticeable also in a slight degree even among the Natives of this and neighbouring districts, is observed, by Mr. Clarke, of Tauranga; in his last report, he says — " I regret to state that a great change has come over the disaffected Natives since the return of " their chiefs from the Tokangamutu meeting. * * * * I am persuaded " that there is much moving amongst the Natives of which lam kept in ignorance. There appears to be " a backwardness to give information, even by those in whom I have hitherto placed confidence, for which " I cannot yet account. This change has come over the Natives since the return of the chiefs from the " Tokangamutu meeting." " May wo not, from what I have stated above, draw the inference that the result of the late Waikato meeting was anything but favorable towards the peace of the country ? " Mr. Mackay, in a letter bearing date 26th February, speaking with reference to the Thames District, says — " I find that one result of the great meeting which was recently held at Tokangamutu is that the " Natives of the King or Hauhau side aro more firmly determined than ever to oppose the opening up of " the country for gold-mining purposes. Leasing of land for depasturing of stock, forming of roads, " survey of Native land, &c, intercourse with Government officials, are also strictly prohibited. The " question as to whether there is to be peace or war does not appear to have been satisfactorily arranged "at the meeting. All the friendly Natives with whom I have conversed appear to be dubious as to the "^continuation of peace. Those of the Hauhau side are not at all communicative as to what took place " t at Tokangamutu."

Enclosure 3 in No. 30. Memokandum by Major Richardson. Wellington, 3rd March, 1868. The Acting Defence Minister has the honor to report, for His Excellency's information, that the Hauhau fanatics, belonging to a hapu of' the Uriwcras, who, in the month of June last, murdered and mutilated Mr. Bennett White and the Native mailman, on the coast at a short distance from Opotiki (and many -of whom are known to have been more or less implicated in the murder of the Bey. Mr.