AGAINST THE EEBEL NATIVES.

A.—No. 12.

43

drawn aside to die. The man found dead belonged to tlio Waitotara Tribe, and was fearfully emaciated. The mark of a scarcely healed wound was observed on his body. On the 9th I proceeded to Waitara with the Hon. Mr. Richmond, and Messrs. Parris and Richmond (the Superintendent of the Province). With these gentlemen I embarked on board the " St. Kilda," and steamed along the coast to Mokau. I had massed my field force at the Waitara. Major Brown had collected his at Urenui, with the object of at once attacking an invading party believed to have entered the district. But a close reconnaisance of the coast, and an advance by land, proved that the enemy, if he had been to the south of Mokau, had retired again to that place. At Mokau there were apparently some few Natives, but the character of the place rendered it impossible to estimate their number ; and though I remained some time there in the " St. Kilda," and fired a few shots from a 21-pounder Howitzer, I could not discover any signs of a force near the mouth of the river. I returned the same evening and found Lieut.-Colonel St. John with the right column in camp. This officer had marched in three days what General Chute had taken nine to traverse, thus proving how the clearing a track, even after a lapse of sonic years, increases the facility of getting about the country. Much of the labour expended by General Chute is still of value to the traveller. The swamps are in some places passable still by his fern-tree bridges, and the track is still too broad to be mistaken. Nevertheless our troops had evinced considerable activity on their march, and it is worthy of note that they were almost unaccompanied by Natives. The Native guide, Horopapera, and some eight or ten Arawas wore the only Maoris with the column, and as no European troops have as yet penetrated the forest so deeply without a considerable body of Natives to discover ambuscades and generally facilitate the inarch, I draw your attention to the circumstance. After carefully considering the subject, and permitting me to offer my military opinion on the matter, Mr. Richmond decided, for reasons with which you are doubtless acquainted, that the troops should be employed in penetrating the interior from the Bay of Plenty, and not in advancing from the mouth of the Mokau River. Under these circumstances I have taken care to provide the Province of Taranaki with a strong force from my moveablc column of 100 Constabulary, under the command of an experienced and trustworthy officer ; in addition to this force and its own Militia, there are in the Province some sixty or seventy of their celebrated Bushrangers on pay, and a body of Volunteers from the Thames, about fifty strong, besides some mounted men. These troops I directed to be chiefly assembled at the White Cliffs, and with the assistance of the friendly Natives they appear to me to be sufficient to confront any enemy at all likely to invade the district. Of course, in case of need, the Militia would be available. Titokowaru has retired upon the Waitara River in the Ngatimaru country. I earnestly hope that the hardships his followers have undergone may tend to keep him quiet until he can be completely disposed of. To secure the Patea district against any farther molestation from his main body, and to prevent any concentration of his stragglers, I left the local Volunteers of the Wairoa, Patea, and Carlylo Rifles, together with the Ngatiporou Constabulary, and No. 3 Division (the portion not at Poverty Hay of that division) to scour the country. When I left the district 1 had organized a local column of the Kai Iwi Cavalry, Veteran Volunteers, Wairoa and Patea Rifles, to follow up the retreat of tho Waitotara Natives, whom I knew to be dejected and dispirited at tho dispersion of their friends with Titokowaru. Following up the successes of the Colonial troops before there had been time for the effect of Titokowaru's reverses to wear off, Major Noakc has penetrated, as you have doubtless learned, a district never before known to Europeans, and has done most valuable service. Not only has his march done much towards making the enemy feel that this time at least they have been utterly discomfited, but he has acquired a knowledge of their most remote fastnesses which will deprive any further disturbances in that part of the country of the greatest part of the difficulty of suppressing them. He has moreover acquired, by his own enterprise, and that of his gallant coadjutors and followers, a knowledge of the paths and tracks for those settlers who are most likely to be at hand on any future occasion when that knowledge is required : and. lastly, he has deprived the enemy of his entire flotilla of canoes, and much plunder which was doubtless believed to be in security. On the 101 h instant, the steamer " Lyttleton" arrived at Waitara, bringing up the Artillery from Patea, having through her less length been enabled to enter the river safely where it would have been dangerous to employ the " Sturt." In the evening Mr. Richmond left in the steamer " St. Kilda " with No. S Armed Constabulary, and the detachment of No. 4 Armed Constabulary, for Manukau. On the ] lth, I followed with No. 6 Armed Constabulary, and by the evening of the following day these troops were on their way to the Bay of Plenty in the " Lord Ashley." I regret to state that some of the men who had long unspent arrears of pay in their possession, and had just come from a fatiguing march of two months in the bush, allowed themselves to tall into the temptation afforded by so many public houses ; so that fifty men from this cause, or in endeavouring to bring away their comrades, were left behind. They have however made good their passages at their own expense. I cannot but hope that the Government will not be disheartened at this circumstance, for some allowance is due to men who had worn their clothes to rags in the hard service they have undergone, and who had not for months seen any faro but their bare ration, or a town of any description. I remained myself in Auckland on the 13th and till the evening of the 14th, during which time I made the necessary preparations for the march now before me into the interior, through an almost unknown and desert country. On the 14th I was invited to a dinner given to me by many of the leading citizens of Auckland, and, with the consent of the Resident Minister, I accepted the invitation. This dinner was expressly intended to have no political significance, and I therefore felt justified in asking to be allowed to accept the compliment to my troops and myself. On the 15th I reached Tauranga, and found it impossible to obtain transport next day. On the 17th, being disappointed in the arrival of drays, I marched without them, leaving a rear guard to load the " Clyde," which had been sent to assist the operations, and a Native cutter with my stores. That night I reached Maketu. The troops were so exhausted by the march across the beach that I could only push a short distance on next day, having no means of providing for the footsore, men. It was the 19th, therefore, before I reached Matata, where I met the <; Clyde." Unfortunately, the Native cutter grounded on the bar, and all its cargo, consisting of biscuit and ammunition,