A.—No. 18,

12

REPORTS RELATIVE TO PEACE NEGOTIATIONS, ETC.

it might be otherwise. We have now nothing but our hands, and this peace must be lasting ;we are in earnest. All the men who took part in the fighting are here, or else they are dead. I have done fighting, let there be an end on your part. There will be no more evil, for all are come in. Now draw in your hand ;do not fire guns here ; carry them elsewhere. Let the thought be yours to go elsewhere. Let it be peace to the land, peace to mankind. Mr. Rice fetched me, so I came, and peace has been made. If it had been only Maori ambassadors I should not have come down. It was Mr. Rice's inaia in fetching us, so I came. Let him not go away. Let him stay to be my friend ; this is "he kupu tutuni." If Mr. Rice had not come, there would have been no peace. This was his good point; he did not fear our threats, so I say let him remain. This is what I desire. (lie "was then prompted to speak on this subject by Wi Patene, and repeated his words.) PenetaTca. —Welcome to your tikanga. Salutations to thee, 0 God, whom I have despised ; I did not believe thy commands issued through Archdeacon Brown. I was deaf to them, and went to fetch fire from Waikato. Now, O God, lam punished by thee ; formerly I was saved by thee, now save me again. Salutations to thee, O Aroha, so long despised. In the days of evil I was punished, now lam snatched from death. I have led the Tauranga chiefs to death. This was said to be sacred ground, but I brought war upon it, and death in the end. The chiefs are dead, and I, the slave, remain. It is well, omy friend, you have saved me; be kind to me and the few chiefs who remain. If we offend once more, we shall perhaps be all swept away. Befriend mo ; I have given hack your arms. Let the flag now wave over me ; let the arms be yours, flags mine, lest it be said lam going back to evil. Now befriend us ; we will not turn to listen to false reports. " Nau te ritenga, c pai ana." It is well, I agree to the proposal about Mr. Rice. " Nana tenei kumenga mai" (this drawing together has been his). Colonel Greer. —Will send your words to the Governor. Don't believe any stories you may hear, nor what any one else may say to you. If there is any interference, or you suffer any annoyance, come and inform me ; I will be the medium of your communications to the Governor. (This being agreed to, the Colonel continued) Now I have nothing more to say. Here the meeting broke up. I may here note a few of the incidents of the meeting as they occurred. One man, named Ropata, had no gun, was a preacher and produced his book. Some of the names on the list were those of men too old to come in to make the declaration ; another was the name of a "porangi" (idiot or insane person). Another was a cripple. A second preacher came forward with his book, but no gun; one of the missing, whose name was on the list, was reported to be a child (iti rawa). Penehamine, a preacher, produced his hymn book as.his only weapon. Kapa (absent) reported to be a "tino tamaiti" (quite a child). Hirini, a deaf and dumb man. Maka, a discharged policeman, was one of the number. Several of them had been wounded at Te Keti or Te Ranga. About one-third of those who had no arms reported that they lost them at the former action, the majority of the others lost theirs at Te Ranga. Now, considering that at the former engagement they had time and opportunity to carry off their arms, besides plundering the officers, this tale, in the face of the small number of arms taken there, does not appear to have much truth in it. The same may be said of the others. Again, with the exception of a few Enfield rifles, for which one of them distinctly said they had no ammunition or caps, the arms were of the most worthless description. Even Enoka hinted that the Ngaiterangi had hidden their arms. The people all went over to Te Matapihi, where I presume there will be a great korero to-night. Having to attend to some Customs business I then went on the beach, and on my return to my tent found Mr. Covey, the Adjutant, who had brought a verbal answer to a letter written by Mr. Maekay, stating his intention to take the declaration and give certificates to all the Natives of his district who had surrendered at Tauranga in the event of my not doing so. Mr. Maekay then desired that he might have a written answer, as he had written officially. The verbal answer was to the effect that the Colonel would not permit any interference with the Natives. Mr. Maekay stated that he would visit them if he thought it his duty to do so. The Adjutant went away, and a few minutes after the sergeant-major told me he (the Adjutant) wanted to see me. On going to meet him he put a paper in my hand, of which the following is a copy:— Camp, Te Papa, 25th July, 1864. The Colonel commanding the District directs that Mr. Baker does not leave the camp without his knowledge. By order. Chaeles Covey, Adjutant, Tauranga District. He then said that he was directed to place Mr. Maekay under arrest, and asked me to request him to go to my tent, as that would avoid a scene. I did so, and on walking up with Mr. Maekay found a sentry over the tent, who was ordered not to allow him to go more than one hundred yards from his tent, &c. The Adjutant asked Mr. Maekay if he was likely to suffer any inconvenience by the arrest? He said he was deprived of his liberty, and desired to know his offence. Mr. Covey said he believed it was because Mr. Maekay intended to communicate with the Natives against the Colonel's orders. Mr. Maekay then desired the Adjutant to inform Colonel Greer that he would bring an action against him in the Supreme Court for illegal imprisonment. 26th July. —Mr. Maekay still under arrest, a sentry pacing in front of our tent ever since he was arrested. This morning Mr. Maekay wrote requesting to be informed as to the grounds of his arrest, &c. No answer as yet. Have seen no Natives this morning. William B. Baker, R.M.