EXTRACT FROM MR. TURTON’S REPORT.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 60, 21 August 1862, Page 3

EXTRACT FROM MR. TURTON’S REPORT.

At Kaioaeranya (mouth of the Thames river), I found the natives divided into two distinct parties ; the Kgatiwhanaunga, under Tikapa calling for English law, and the Ngatimaru, under the old chief Eiwai, all wishful to go back to the ritenya, of their ancestors. At a meeting of their runanga which I called, they expounded their views fully, and pronounced for a state of pure Maori-ism as regards customs, laws, language, trade, religious instruction, and local habitation. I never heard anything so exclusive before. They would have nothing to do with the King (Potatau), nor with the Queen, nor the Governor, nor magistrates ; but simply rule themselves by their own laws, and keep entirely separate from the pakehas. Their fathers had done without us, and so would they, ike. The argument lasted three hours, kept up with spirit and good temper ; and after that, the “Queen's runanga,” as they styled themselves, followed in reply, and gave expression to sentiments of a very opposite character. Immediately afterwards, the Maori Court , or runanga, was opened, as if in illustration of their speeches, and for my peculiar benefit. Old Eiwai sat as Judge ; the case, one of “ korero-teka,” (slander), was introduced, and argued by two young men as “ Roias ’ (lawyers), each having received a fee of 10s. The Judge was quickly confused by them, and sent to ask me how to proceed. I replied that 1 was there as a spectator only, and wished to sec how such cases wore conducted. Plaintiff then began on behalf of her daughter, of ten years of age, whose gentle birth had been maligned, and in a screaming speech, with abundance of jmkana (grimaces), demanded damages of £SO to be paid down at once. On this loud laughter arose on- every side. The child’s father came forward to prove how reasonable was the demand; saying that though the mother was a slave, he was a chief, and a great one, too, and that the sum was little enough for having called his daughter a taurekareka (slave). He was quickly supported by aunts and uncles in abundance who all doubtless thought that £SO ready cash would be a good thing for the family ; and so they all stood up and chattered together making confusion worse confounded. By this time, the two lawyers were nearly fighting* pacing about speechifying one against the ° other: and the Court was about the decide in favour of the plaintiff, who had gained judgment solely through strength of lungs and impudence, when up jumped the defendant,—a wretched looking old woman, and all in tatters ; and rushing into the ring, she first divided the lawyers, then assailed the plaintiff, then abused the witnesses, heaped scorn on all the party, and justified the libel; then repeated, it most expressively, and dared them to their faces. The whole Court was instantly in an uproar, like Bedlam let loose, each person siding off to his party, and every speaker grinning at the rest and all speaking and rushing about together ; when my interference was again requested by the judge. Poor old man, he was all in a nervous sweat, and evidently lost the train of his ideas. Order being restored, I took the case in hand, much to the discomfiture of the lawyers ; and within a quarter of an hour, the whole evidence had been extracted, and the dicision given. Judgment was still for the plaintiff, but 10s. damages ; and yet all parties were pleased with the result. Even the old dame herself was content, crying out that “ she had never had such a sum in her life, and never should have, and that they might get the money as they could.” This speech was received with great applause, and a collection at once commenced when _ garments and coins of various value, amounting to about 255., were handed over and laid at the feet of the mother, the plaintiff, —as a cure-all for her troubled mind and daughtcr’s damaged reputation.

The Tasmanian Maid.—This steamer, so recently wrecked on the bar of the Wairau river, and which, having been condemned after a proper survey, was sold for £llO, arrived in our harbour on Saturday last. It appears that she had been washed high upon a shingle bank, and had already become so considerably imbedded in it as to require a large number of hands to attempt her release from so perilous a position. A subsequent freshet in the Wairau river, however, washed away so much of the shingle around her as to render the task of floating her a comparatively easy one. After a few necessary repairs the Tasmanian Maid was again brought round to Nelson. Since her arrival she' has been placed upon the cradle, and a thorough examination has only discovered serious injury to one paddle-box, but the other damage is so slight that it will very speedily be repaired. This vessel, which was offered for sale by auction at Mr. Symons’s store, on Wednesday, last, failed to secure a higher bid than £I,OOO, which being just one-half of the reserve amount, she was withdrawn from sale, and subsequently purchased by Mr. Symons for £2,000. It is now advertised that, early in August, and, after being thoroughly repaired, she will be placed on her old berth between Nelson, Picton, Wairau, and Collingwood. It is also intended that she shall, if possible, ascend the Opawa river to Blenheim. —Nehon Examiner , July 19. Astonishing Escape.—On Friday afternoon, as the 1.40 train from Salisbury was proceeding along the Bareford branch of the Great Western Railway, between Bathamton and Lampley Stoke, the engine driver saw a boy lying asleep apparently on the rails a short distance before him. The whistle was at once sounded, the guards put on the breaks, and everything was done to pull up the train. The momentum it had attained was, however, too great to accomplish this end before the engine, tender, and carriages had passed over the sleeping youth. As soon as the train was stopped the engine driver and) guards alighted, and ran back to the spot in expectation of finding the mangled remains of the sleeper, but to their surprise they saw the lad run away in evident terror and hide himself in a neighbouring copse. Upon inquiry it turned out that the boy, whose name is Charles Bodman, aged fourteen, had been tending some cows near the Dundas aqueduct, and that having sat down on the line he fell asleep, having, as it fortunately happened, so disposed himself that his entire person was within the two lines of rails. The soundness with which he slept w r as equally fortunate, for had he awoke and endeavoured to get out of the way of the train he would, in all probability, have been killed on the spot. Holloway’s Pills.—Depression of spirits, debility,—Some defect in digestion is generally the cause of mental depression; on rectifying the disordered stomach, the long list of gloomy thoughts retire, and are succeeded by more hopeful and happier feelings, Holloway’s Pills have been renowned far and wide for effecting this desirable change. They remove all obstructions regulate all secretions, and correct depraved humours, by purifying the blood and invigorating the stomach. Their medicinal virtues reach, relieve, and stimulate every organ and gland in the body, whereby the entire system is relieved. No medicine ever before discovered acts so directly and beneficially upon the blood afid circulation as Holloway’s celebrated Pills, which combine the rare merits of efficiency and harmlessness.