A.—No. 1

44

DESPATCHES FROM THE GOVERNOR OF

" O my guests," said Kawana Hunia, of the Ngatiapas, " when ye return to " our great Queen, tell Her that we will fight for Her again, as we have fought " before. She is our Queen as well as your Queen —Queen of Maoris and Queen of " Pakeha. Should wars arise, we will take up our rifles and march whithersoever " she shall direct. You have heard of the King movement. I was a Kingite; " but that did not prevent me fighting for the Queen —I and my chiefs. My " cousin, Wiremu, went to England, and saw our Queen. He returned. When " you landed in this Island he was already dead. He died fighting for our Queen. "As he died, we will die, if need be —I and all my chiefs. This do you tell *' our Queen. I have said." " This passage, spoken as Ilunia spoke it, was one of noble eloquence and " singular rhetoric art. The few first words about Wiremu were spoken in a half " indifferent way ; but there was a long pause before and after the statement that " he was dead, and a sinking of the voice when he related how Wiremu had died, " followed by a burst of sudden fire in the "as he died, we will die —I and all my " chiefs." 5. Speeches to a similar effect have often been addressed to me by the loyal Maoris. On this subject I would solicit a re-perusal of the 10th and 11th paragraphs of my general Eeport of the 7th December, 1868. 6. I intend to spend a large portion of the ensuing spring and summer (that is, from September to April,) in visiting the Native districts, a measure from which much public advantage is expected to result. In the first place, I shall this week proceed, accompanied by Mr. Eox, the Prime Minister, and Mr. McLean, to Wanganui, whence w rc propose to ride overland, through the fertile country lately devastated by Titokowaru, to the post held by a detachment of the Colonial Eorces at Eatea. Arrangements will be made forthwith for planting on the fertile lands near Eatea, a number of the loyal Ngatiporou clan from the East Coast, under their chief Eopata. It is believed that they will form the best practicable advanced guard for the settlers to the west of Wanganui against the raids of the wild and savage tribe of the Ngatiruanuis, to which Titokowaru belongs. It will be remembered, moreover, that a similar policy has proved successful on the frontier of the Cape Colony. 7. Erom Patea I shall proceed to Taranaki, and thence visit the Natives at the Waitara and elsewhere in the neighbourhood, and the scene of the recent massacre at the White Cliffs. Erom Taranaki I intend to sail for Auckland by theManukau Harbour, off which Her Majesty's ship " Orpheus" was wrecked in 1863, when Commodore Burnett and nearly all his officers and crew perished. On the voyage I shall, if possible, call at the ports of Kawhia, Waingaroa, and Aotea, and at' the mouth of the river Waikato. There are Native villages at all these points. 8. Erom Auckland, which is the centre of the Native districts, I shall make several expeditions, in company with my Ministers and several of the principal officers of Government. We shall visit, in the first place, the Thames and Coromandel Gold Eiclds, where it has becoiue necessary to make fresh arrangements with the Maori owners of the soil. Afterwards we shall make an extended journey through the Waikato, and the centre of the North Island; proceeding, if it should be feasible, as far as Lake Taupo. At a later period we hope to visit the Native tribes to the north of Auckland ; that is, the N gatiwhatuas at Kaipara ; the Ngapuhis at the Bay of Islands and Hokianga; and the Earawas at Mongonui. Einally, I intend to visit the English settlements and Maori clans on the East Coast, spending some time in tho Bay of Plenty, at Poverty Bay, and at Hawke's Bay.* 9. The journeys thus shadowed forth will occupy portions of several consecutive months. During that period I shall continue, as heretofore, to do my utmost to keep your Lordship acquainted with the progress of events in New Zealand; but it will be easily understood that it may be sometimes impossible for me to be at head-quarters at the arrival and departure of the monthly English mails. The Despatches from the Colonial Office should continue to be addressed to Wellington.

* Any good map of New Zealand will show all the places here referred to.