AND THE GOVERNOR OE NEW ZEALAND.

A.—No. 1b

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November last was very grave. Titokowaru's head-quarters were then within ten (10) or twelve (12) miles of Wanganui, and that town was threatened with an attack by his horde of murderers and cannibals, in which event hundreds of English women and children might have met with the terrible fate of the sufferers of Poverty Bay or of Cawnpore. Can it be held, in any quarter, that it was my duty at such an emergency to remain in ignoble ease at Wellington, for the purpose of writing Despatches by the Suez mail, instead of hurrying forthwith to the front, and throwing myself into the Maori camp ? At all events, your Lordship, in your Despatch No. 27, of the 25th Eebruary ultimo, wrote as follows: — " I have read with interest the account of your expedition to Wanganui, and I " approve both of your having proceeded thither, and of the language which " you used to the assembled tribes." In my Despatch No. 116, of 1868, I forwarded a summary (as reported in the local journals) of my speeches to the Natives at Wanganui, showing how, in deference to my appeal, " the brave chief " Te Kepa (Major Kemp) came forward, and said that he was ready to obey the " Governor's commands, and to lead a new taua, or war party, to be enrolled for " permanent service. Several other chiefs declared that they would follow Te " Kepa. The main object of the Governor's visit to Wanganui was to call upon "the Maoris to take the field again; and in this object his Excellency's visit " appears to have been completely successful." The great services rendered since last November by Te Kepa and other loyal chiefs are well known; and it is acknowledged that the recent successes against the rebels could not have been achieved without their aid. 4. Again, it is stated in the Despatch No. 12 that my Reports do not show " the precise limits within which the apprehension of Native disturbances "is considered to exist, or the number of persons now in arms." I beg permission to submit, most respectfully, that it may be collected from several of my Despatches that I have repeatedly reported to the effect that, in the opinion of those best qualified to judge, no portion of the North Island, beyond the districts round Auckland and Wellington, where the European race greatly predominates over the Maoris, can be considered to be free from the apprehension of Native disturbances; that, in fact, serious outbreaks have occurred during the past year in all the four Provinces into which this Island is divided; and that there have been (probably) nearly as many rebels in arms during the last twelve months as during the years when, in addition to the Colonial forces, there was in the Colony a British Army of ten thousand Regular troops. Moreover, the so-called Maori King has encircled a large portion of the centre of this Island with an aukati, or "pale," which no European or loyal Maori is allowed to cross on pain of death. Our relations with the clans that adhere to Tawhiao are described by Mr. Mailing (one of the Judges of the Native Land Court) "as a doubtful armed truce;" while Mr. McLean, the present Minister for Native Affairs, declares that "in one sense every Hauhau in New " Zealand is in arms against the Government." All who know this country will bear witness that these two gentlemen are recognized to be among the highest among authorities on all Maori questions. It will be remembered, moreover, that while there were ten thousand (10,000) of the Queen's troops in this Island, it was estimated by Sir George Grey and other high authorities that "we never had " two thousand (2,000) Maoris in arms against us at any one time; and it is shown "by an examination of General Cameron's Despatches that the troops were never " actually engaged with more than six hundred (600), and not often with more "than two hundred (200) to four hundred (400)." It is estimated that at the Gate Pa, and other severe actions, the Maoris who inflicted such heavy loss on the British soldiers did not exceed from one-third to one-fifth of the number of their opponents. On this question, I beg permission to recommend a perusal of " The War in New Zealand," a book published in London, in 1866, by Mr. Eox (the present Prime Minister of this Colony), and of the authorities cited by him. I annex also the enclosed Memoranda furnished to me by Mr. McLean, the Minister for Native Affairs, and by Colonel Whitmore respectively. It will be seen that the Hauhau disturbances still extend over a much larger area in New Zealand than the Eenian disturbances ever extended in Ireland, and that it is believed that 4