NEWS FROM THE NORTH.

Dunstan Times, Issue 360, 19 March 1869, Page 3

NEWS FROM THE NORTH.

(Abridged from the Daily Times. Napier, March 8. Letters have been received confirming the reports of the. intended rising in tho

Waikato. They state that the East Coast is to be the first point of attack. Auckland dates to the sth instant are to hand. Great excitement has existed there in anticipation of a rising in the settled districts, but is subsiding. . Wellington, March 9. Telegrams from Blenheim state that on the 25th ult. a topsail schooner put into Port Underwood, laden with ammunition. She came from the South, and remained till thu 27th, when she left, nominally for the Fijis. It is supposed, however, that she was really bound for some part of the coast of the North Island, to laud ammunition for the rebels. March 10. Colonel Whitmore, since his return to the Front, has pushed on his scouting parties a considerable distance across tho Waitotara river, but without discovering any traces of the enemy. It is supposed that Tito Kowaru has retreated farther back. The Wanganui has just arrived from Wanganui with two prisoners on board under sentence of a court martial. Tho following from the Times of Tuesday is the only item of intelligence brought by her:—“Yesterdaya messenger from his Maori Majesty came to Wanganui and asked permission to pass on with an important message to his majesty's subjects. Ho had come down the Wanganui river from Taupo, and was on his way to Rangatikei, Manawatn, tie. Mr. Buller, R.M., had no power to detain him, although tho friendly natives, who know much of what is going on, said that his object was not, as he stated, to convey a message to the King’s subjects to tho effect that a great meeting will he held this month, at which the question of peace or war will he decided ; but that he was the actual bearer of a message fixing a particular day for a particular work for his majesty’s subjects. Both Government and people have certainly had sufficient warning. ” Napiei;, March 10. The St. Kilda has arrived from Poverty Bay “en route ” for the West Coast. She brings Ropata and 1 ighty-five Ngatiporou. Ropata on arriving here expressed great reluctance to go on, and asked Mr. M ‘Lean f r his opinion in the matter. Mr, M‘Lean replied that he considered the East Coast in an unsafe condition, and that Ropata couhl not be spared. Ropata thereupon refused to go, Negotiations are still going on, and the Government are indignant. Fresh news from Taupo is anxiously looked for. Mr. Wyllio, of Poverty Bay, has shot two prisoners—an event which is causing some sensation there. Whllingtgn, March 11.

The rumor.of a general rising having been ordered by the King rests on the authority of private letters from Wanganui, and, among others, one from Colonel Whitmore to Colonel Haultain, in which the rumour is stated to come from some of the Upper Wanganui natives. The whole affair seems to have arisen from the fact of a Maori messenger from the King going among tho tribes with a kind of circular letter. Mr. R. Booth, R.M., has obtained a copy of this letter, and has sent it to Mr. Richmond It is worded in the usual ambiguous metaphorical Maori style, and may mean anything. Mete Kingi says it means peace, and enjoins the Kingitcs to be peaceable and quiet. The Government telegraphed the original to Mr. <M‘Lean and Colonel Locke, at Napier, and they both consider that it means peace and not war. The greater part of tho province of Taranaki has been proclaimed a disturbed digtrict under the Colonial Forces Court Martial Act. Napier, March 11. The negotiations regarding Ropata’s proceeding to Wanganui have ended in. his absolute refusal to go there. In the course of his conference with tho Government he said that he agreed with Mr. Mr. M‘Lean that the East Coast was unsafe, Ten of his men, however, went on in the St. Kilda which sailed to day. The news received from Wairoa about Goulet, is supposed to indicate that an armed force of the enemy is in the vicinity of that place. Specimens of gold have been discovered in the Kaimanawa Range, between the Ruahine Range and Taupo. Wellington, March 12. The “Wanganui Chronicle" of yesterday has been supplied by-a gentleman who arrived in Wanganui the previous evening fron the Front, with an accountof anattack made by the enemy on an escort of forty men belonging to the Constabulary, Militia, and Volunteers, under tho command of Lieutenant Hunterof thePatea Rifles. They started from Patea on Wednesday forenoon as an escort for seven drays carrying threethousand rations for the supplyof five-hun-dred troops which had that day advanced to Wairoa. A flock of sheep also accompanied the drays. No precautions were taken against surprise, neither scouts nor videttes being sent out. About one o’clock the infantry crossed the Whenuakura river, and made a temporary halt on the other side to allow the drays to cross. While the latter were doing so, the men stoo i about, and were unexpectedly fired upon by a concealed body of the enemy, variously estimated at from one hundred to one hundred and fifty. On the first discharge, one man, supposed to be a stockman, was seen to fall. A second and heavier volley followed, and then a hot fire was opened upon them from both sides. Tho “ChronicleV’informanthadnot crossed tho river, and at once rode off to tho Waitotara to inform the troops stationed there of what was going on. A trooper or two afterwards arrived at the Waitotara, panicstricken, and giving gloomy accounts of tho result of the engagement, hut no particulars. It is hoped that the sound of the firing reached Patea or the advanced post beyond Wairoa, so that assistance could bo rendered The enemy were known to be in , the locality* ar their fires had been seen

some days before, and they had burnt down ] the house of Wright, the ferryman, near , the mouth of the Whenuakura river. No I further particulars had reached Wanganui ' up to the time the coach loft. ' March 14. The Storm Bird has arrived from Wanganui, but has brought no papers. The peo- i pie on board, however, say that the ao- I counts of the late attack on the escort were I greatly exaggerated, that the attacking party was small, and that it was driven oil' without any loss on our side. Tho Government have not yet received any account of the attack on the escort. The St Kilda, with twenty Ngatiporou on board, has arrived. The Ngatiporou were landed here to wait the arrival of a steamer to take them to Wanganui, the St, Kilda being sent back to Napier to keep open the communication with Opotiki.