THE THREATENED DISTURBANCES AT CHATHAM ISLANDS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1320, 22 October 1872, Page 2

THE THREATENED DISTURBANCES AT CHATHAM ISLANDS.

The correspondent of the " Southern Cross;?' "writing on 29th September, gives the folio-wing account of , the position of affairs in the Chatham Islands : — "

Since my letter written on; the 20th, great changes have taken place in our hitherto peacof ul islands In my previous letter' I mentioned ■ about the alarm that had x been occasioned here- by the news having reached u.3<of the.,;doings of the ]\{aqri prophet Te Whiti. A Jand dispute bgtween certain .natives and Europeans has been pending, and for some time past a great change was noticeable in the Maoris; in their dealings with ,us,.but nothing of sufficient moment to .cause alarm was observable until a short time back,. when they suddenly withdrew from the village pud announced their intention of adopting the religion, of the great prophet Te Whiti. IJireptly ttijs state of affairs became known & panic seized the Moriorisor Chatham Islanders, who have still a great dread of their old conquerors. Several of the European settlers met; and the state of affairs was fully discussed, arid measures were degided upon for the safety, of' the village. Nothing of a hostile nature ocgurred until yesterday, when every one was put into a great state, of excitement, by the 1 reception of a message from the Maoris intimating their intention of coming down, upoh- the village on that day fortnight, that time being allowed the Europeans to .clear, off the island.: This was immediately made known, to every settler, and measures •were.at once proceeded with to ; get 'every one into the village, and 'to construct some kind Pf defence in the event^bf this threat being carried out. A nleeting of nearly all the white settlers was ' held the same . afternoon, and our worthy Resident Magistrate, Mr La Nauze, was . requested , to at once proceed ; by the schooner Ocean Wave to Auckland, whither she was bound, to ask the authorities for instruction and assistance, which he has "consented to do. The rebels number about 27, and they are all. well aymed, whilst with : the exception of a few of us we have no arms,' and very little ammunition. I hear that the' Morioris ■ are to ?hold " their Iru nariga ' to-morrow, when the matter will be discussed, and they •■mil*' decide 1 which side they/ will stand by.. From .rumors afloat, X am 'afraid 'that; if not all, a great number of them &Te in the MaoriSj j : of /whom they ,have, considerable dread. ",, A .good number of those living in the Milage are with us, and they intend, to attend the meeting and try and inducethe remainder to join our ranks. Great anxiety will be felt until hews is received from Auckland, which we allfervently hope will.be in the shftpe qf one of H.M,'s ships Pf "war. Our white force capable of bearing arms numbers about 40, and I think we can count upon ;30' of the natives who will stand loyal to us. Jt is my. belief that the whole quarrel has arisen out of the' land dispute mentioned. The land 1 in 1 question is situated at Waitahgi ; writs had been issued' against the natives', -who are a section of the iTaranaki tribes ; and it r is believed they referred T the . niatter , to William King and Te Whiti; The advice they received from .'jthose notabilities was to stand firm, arid their' rights. The threats may be mere empty words intended to > intimidate the settlers'j'but the scattered nature of the homesteads on the island renders it possible -for a mere handful of natives to do considerable injury "to life and property.