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make an end of him. Since being pardoned he has left Te Kuiti, where he has lived for more than twelve years. He now resides at a place called Otewa, between Kihikihi and Te Kuiti, and about fourteen miles from the former. By far the most stirring event, mingled with alarm, that has taken place during the past year, was the seizing and tying up of Mr. C. W. Hursthouse, Government Surveyor, and his companion, Mr. Newsham, by a section of Natives who go by the name of Tekau-ma-rua, or Twelve (apostles). They were led on and incited by one of their number named Te Mahuki, who belongs to a hapu called Ngatikinohaku, which is a sub-tribe of the Ngatimaniapoto, and who reside principally at a settlement called Te Kumi, about three miles from Te Kuiti. This affair has since been known as the "Te Mahuki outrage," and has been fully reported in the papers. This people, who go under the name of Tekau-ma-rua, are disciples of and believers in Te Whiti and Tohu, of Parihaka renown. Some of them—including Te Mahuki, who was one of the imprisoned political ploughmen—had for some time been sojourners at Parihaka, and were therefore thoroughly influenced by, and were believers in, the " prophet." After their expulsion from Parihaka, at the time of Te Whiti and Tohu's arrest, they were returned by Government to Waikato, where they belonged, and, in coming, brought their doctrines and beliefs with them. Te Mahuki, who is a consumptive, cunning-looking Native, of about thirty-five years of age, of unprepossessing appearance, but gifted with considerahle glibness of speech, at once took the lead, installed himself as representative of Te Whiti, and their settlement (Te Kumi) was speedily formed into a miniature Parihaka. They built their houses in the same way and in the same positions relatively to each other as were those at Parihaka; their modes of living, their speeches, their songs, their prayers, and their continuous reading of the Old Testament—the New Testament, with the exception of the book of Eevelations, does not form any part of their religion—were just the same as when they were at Parihaka; in fact, all the surroundings were such as to keep the original converts from growing lukewarm, and the attractions which Parihaka presented in the shape of plenty of food and the society of " lovely woman" were also there in abundance to assist in gaining new converts to the cause. These people are noted for their industry, but I do not think their industry is genuine, or that they are so industrious from choice, but merely because it is necessary for the success of their teachings that one of the attractions shall be plenty of food—hence their industry in order to provide what is necessary. Since their return from Parihaka, and after they found that they had got a footing in this district, they were presumptuous enough to suggest to the Waikatos and Ngatimaniapotos that they should desert Tawhiao and their own chiefs, and adopt the Te Whiti doctrine, of which they were the exponents, but this proposal was scouted by the majority of the Natives, although a few proselytes from both those tribes have been made by them. So far as I can learn, these people profess to be actuated by a desire to prevent their land from passing out of their hands; to keep themselves at a distance from the pakeha, in whom they see all that is the cause of their deterioration and destruction, and nothing that can benefit them; to be allowed themselves to conduct all matters that pertain to their own well-being—in fact, to make laws for themselves, and not to be amenable to ours in any way; to be entirely their own masters, and do what they like with their own. They say that they cannot keep us back by force, neither is their position tenable by argument, so, as a sort of forlorn hope, they fall back upon the Old Testament Scriptures, out of which they profess to see signs and get inspirations, which they declare will, if steadfastly believed in and faithfully carried out, enable them to overcome all who are opposed to them. On these points some of them are monomaniacal, some are merely infatuated, whilst others make use of this means in the hope of bringing about a desired end ; and the latter are the strong-minded, and therefore the leaders of the others. Their reason for stopping Mr. Hursthouse was, I think, to show their objection to the mission on.which he was proceeding, namely, prospecting for a railway-line, as they say that the introduction of roads and railways over Maori land is only the beginning of the end, and that after those and other signs of civilization are developed in their midst they are powerless to retain their lands, and their destruction as a race follows as a matter of course. If this is really so, these people are entitled to a great deal of not only sympathy but help at our hands; and I think it is incumbent upon us to show to them that not only shall they as a people not suffer through our progress, but that their lands shall be in most cases retained to them, and permanently benefitted by our occupation thereof. If they are really actuated by the before-mentioned desires, it is hard to explain why it was that, in the capture of Messrs. Hursthouse and Newsham, they treated them with such cruelty; and this I can only account for by the fact that they were infatuated to such a degree that they were prepared to do anything that their leader, Te Mahuki, might order them to do. Had he ordered his people to kill the prisoners I believe it would have been done; or had he given orders that they should be treated with the greatest kindness and consideration his orders would have been implicitly obeyed; and the way he acted in the position in which he was placed during that critical time shows, I think, how immeasurably inferior he is to his prototype, Te Whiti. That astute prophet would never, I think, have compromised himself and his cause by action like that of Te Mahuki. I think that Te Mahuki was intoxicated with what he thought was success, or answer to prayer, in being enabled to take the Europeans out from the protection of Wetere and party, and his subsequent action in having them tied up, ill-treated, and kept without food shows, I think, that he had quite " lost his head." His subsequent action in threatening the Hon. the Native Minister and myself at a public meeting also shows, I think, how infatuated he had become; and when he capped all his other extravagances by leading his men into Alexandra, with the professed intention of doing what he liked when he got there, I think it will be pretty generally admitted that the arrest of himself and party was the best thing that could have happened not only for the public but for themselves also. Some people have made a great deal of the fact that because they came into Alexandra without arms their intentions were peaceable; but this can hardly be the case when we find them