New Plymouth Sunday. Sepr. 25/70 My dear Sir As the Man of War is leaving at once I send you a few lines to inform you that I returned from the Pariaka meeting last evening which place I left yesterday morning early, and Titokowaru left the same time to return to Ngatimaru. He arrived Wednesday morning and halted outside of my encampment in front of the Pariaka Village which contains 80 houses which we all full of resident Natives and those who had come from a great distance north and south. Before Titokowaru arrived I arranged with Hone Pihama and Wiremu Hukanui to prepare a place for he and his party to encamp on in order to keep them seperate from the other Natives assembled as I considered I should be better able to understand the real state of their minds, and their future intentions. The arrangement answered my expectations, and had the effect that I had in view of withholding his sanction to the superstitious views of Te Witi which amounts to this: that he is the only being that can : that the confession and wickedness of the war is the result of the mismanagement of the Queen, King, chiefs and Prophets. On Thursday and Friday Tikokowaru with all his people attended the meeting when we had to go over a great deal of what had been discussed before and Tilokowaru himself tried to elicit from To Witi his views as to the future and who was to govern, but all that he could get from him was, ''Ko te pai anake ko te pai anake'' adding that all who prefer the works of confusion must follow their own inclinations. The last time I addressed them on Friday evening I told them that the Queens mana was supreme and would be so, and that public works would go one, such as roadmaking etc. etc. etc. that the Government wished for peace and quietness and improve the condition of all, both races alike. I called upon Te Witi to let me have the men of Pariaka for roadmaking, but he made no answer. It is believed he will not consent to road making by declaring in its favour, but that he will oppose any resistance to the work, which he has already done on several occasions. I had not intended to go into the details of the meeting when I commenced writing, and as Mr. Branigan is going off I must close this by saying that all is perfectly quiet, and that I shall send you a full report of the meeting as soon as I can should you not come here in a few days, as is reported you are likely to. In the event of your not coming I shall go Wellington to see you as soon as I can get away. I wrote to you from Pariaka by the Oberland mail on Friday. I have a troublesome case to enquire into this week about some horses some rascally Europeans drove away from the Natives on the Warea run whilst the meeting was going on. Some Pariaka Natives are coming in about. I am not as yet aware who the Europeans were that could be guilty of such conduct. In haste I am My Dear Sir Yours faithfully R. Parris.