HIS EXCELLENCY'S VISIT TO OTAKI.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 68, 16 October 1862, Page 4

HIS EXCELLENCY'S VISIT TO OTAKI.

(From the IVillington Independent'scowcspcmAcwt) Otaki, 19th September, ISG2. On tbo 15th inst. liis Excellency Sir George Grey arrived at the settlement of the Xgatihuia, on the south bank of the Otaki river, where groat preparations were made for his reception by Kavanama, a newly-ap-pointed Native Magistrate. A Itimanga House 50ft. by 20ft. was erected, together with a smaller one for the accommodation of his Excellency and suite, by Horn, Epiha, and their tribe, the Ngatihuias, who have seceded from the king, are expected eventually to join in with the proposed arrangement. A considerable gathering of natives from Otaki and Manawatu were present. Amongst the Europeans we noticed his Honor the Superintendent, Cracroft Wilson, C. 8., the hon. Tollemache and lady, Dr. Hewson, Messrs. Carter, Cook, Hartley, &c. His Excellency was received with the utmost enthusiasm and greeting. Shortly afterwards a meeting was held of a preliminary character for the more important one to be held next day. Accordingly on the 17th the meeting took place at Otaki, to which the Ngatiawas and Kingites were invited to attend. Those, however, held aloof, with the exception of the influential old chief Nepia Taratoa, who was induced to attend* although be had lately gone with the king party. He stated that in former trouble he had been on the side of friendship towards the settlers, and that he approved of his Excellency's plans as far as they were known to him; he wished nothing concealed, and that he was to put in the key and open the door of his mind. His Excellency then entered into an explanation of his views, which was ably interpreted by Mr. White, and seemed to meet the approval of the Natives present. At the conclusion of this meeting it was arranged that his Excellency should meet the king party half-way, and they accordingly met at the bridge lead-

ing to the Roman Catholic settlement of Pukekaraka, the site of the king flagstaff. Wi Tako acted as spokesman for his party, and, from what took place, we auger that his Excellency is not without hope of bringing this influential chief to his views eventually.

THE MEETING BETWEEN SIE GEOEGE OBEY AND WI TAKO

(From the New Zealand Advertiser.) On the 16th instant, His Excelency the Governor (through W. H. Buller, Esq.), sent the following message to the king natives assembled at Tainui, Otaki: —“Send mo the Maori king flag, cut down the flagstaff, discontinue your present king work, and let all the king’s people come into the town that I may see you and talk to you, for I will not go to Tainui.” Upon receipt of this message, Heremia te Tihi, addressing Mr. Buller, said : —“We refuse ; we will never give the Maori king flag to the Governor ;we will never cut down the flagstaff; we will never discontinue our work; and we will not go into the town to meet the Governor. If he (the Governor) will not come here, let him remain ; we are satisfied.” Wiremu E Tako was then asked by Mr. Buller for his reply, and he (E Tako), being urged to answer, said : “Listen to me, friend Buller: it is now only that I understand and have found out the strength and importance of the king movement and the weakness of the Queen’s Government. Let the Governor come here to Tainui, and let us discuss all my proceedings in this new work.” Mr. Buller conveyed this to His Excellency, and on the 17th instant His Honor the Superintendent had an interview with Wi Tako, to induce him to accompany him to the town, but he (Tako) refused, and it was arranged that a meeting should bo held midway (at the bridge), when His Excellency personally endeavoured to induce Wi Tako to attend a meeting then about to be held at the Otaki school-house, saying, “Come with me and let us talk together; I will give you good advice.” Wi Tako replied, “If I oat the liver of a shark I shall die, but if I eat fern roots I shall be strong and healthy. It is much better that you should come here, so that all my friends the king’s people, may hear what w 7 e say and nothing be hidden.” This was agreed to, and at four o’clock (after the meeting of the loyal natives about 600 king natives assembled at the bridge to witness the interview between his Excellency and Wi Tako. The Governor addressed Wi Tako, and asked him to speak his mind freely and without reserve. Wi Tako: Friend the Governor, salutations to you! I will speak my mind freely to you. I will hide and disguise nothing. You shall know all my thoughts, and why I am so strong, energetic, and earnest, in upholding the Maori king and this king movement. I did not orginate this movement; it,was first proposed by Mateno Te Whiwhi, about nine years since, when ho visited Waikato, and on a subsequent occasion ho desired to be made king, but the Waikato tribe having chosen Potatau, he (Mateno) became disappointed and afterwards repudiated the Maori king. Hot only he but the whole of the Ngatiraukawa tribe at Otaki deputed myself and other native chiefs to go to Waikato, take up their subscriptions, give in their adhesion, and bring down a king flag to be hoisted at Otaki. Moreover a letter was received from the Cape of Good Hope, addressed to us to elect a king and make our own laws. This letter, we believe, was written with your knowledge. His Excellency here asked to see the letter, and upon its being handed to him, repudiated all knowledge of it. [N.B. —The letter was from a native who resided with Sir George Grey at the Cape, and who accompanied him from here.] Wi Tako continued: “ I am earnest in upholding this movement for many reasons ; when you were fighting with Eangihacta, you called upon me to assist you, and I did so without waiting to consider whether he was my relation or countryman —you called upon me to assist you at Wanganui, and I did so without demur. After the termination of the war you went to England, and there was a new form of government for Hew Zealand—Superintendents and such like—numbers of them—and I was puzzled to know who was Governor; after this, Rawiri Waiaua a near relation of mine, an assessor, also was murdered at Taranaki, and I was much grieved about it. I went to the Superintendent of Wellington (Dr. Fcathcrston), and asked him to go with me to Taranaki, to enquire into this matter (he is standing near you and cannot deny it) —more particularly as at the time of the murder, Rawiri was doing the work of the Government. The Superintendent answered mo by saying, “ I am not the captain of the ship, I am only one of the mates I cannot interfere.” How as 1 always understood that upon your departure for England the Superintendent was Governor here, and ho having refused to interfere in this matter, I then began to understand that it was not to protect the Maori race, but to acquire their land, was the great object of the Government, and for this reason I am earnest and energetic in upholding the king movement. The Governor: Your work is foolish, it will not prosper, and no good will result from it. Discontinue your folly, and come back to your former work and position. Help mo to carry out my new policy, and if, after three years, you arc of your present mind, and see that my new arrangements are not for the benefit of the Maori race, go back to your Maori king. Wi Tako: Why do you come hero to cut off the branches ? Why not not go to Waikato and cut down the tree, or destroy it by digging up the roots ? Yon will find the tree strong and vigorous, and you will have great difficulty in rooting it. up ; when the roots are destroyed, the tree and all its branches will perish. The Governor; Wherever I go I find the Roman Catholic natives are at the bottom of all this work and disturbance. The meeting then broke up on account of the rain and the lateness of the evening.

AUCKLAND. Tire most important item of intelligence during the past month is that of the resignation of the Superintendent, Mr. John Williamson, whose mission has been brought to an end, by the passing of the Native Lauds Bill in the General Assembly and the consequent hindrance to the systematic settlement of population in this Province, which had formed the main feature of his policy. —New Zealander. The Southern Cross says:—“lt is difficult to say who will become Superintendent in the room of Mr. John Williamson. The Deputy Governor has refused to accept of his resignation, and Sir George Grey is still in the South. Some persons seem to think that his Excellency, on his return, will not consent to divorce Mr. Williamson from his Council until he has called them together and made provision for carrying on the public works of the country. Of course that is mere speculation but it carries a degree of probability witli it. The public works once provided for and an electoral law passed, the Superintendent and the Council may procure a dissolution as soon as they please, but we hope the interest of the province will not bo sacrificed to attain that end. Mr. Joseph Newman is still the only candidate in the field. COROMANDEL. The Thames arrived yesterday from Coromandel bringing up the pleasing intelligence that Messrs. Inglis and Co. ’s claim, No. 15, had struck a remarkably rich leader, and taken out 4011 is. of quartz. We believe the quartz is of the same character as that from which Mr. Gibson and partners extracted the 231bs. of solid gold. Every day seems to be developing more fully the auriferous nature of the Coromandel quartz. — Daily Southern Cross, Oct. 3. TARANAKI. Some vague reports of large native meetings in the Waikato district have been floating about town for some days past, said to have been brought overland through native channels, to the effect that the king movement was to be abandoned, and that Potatau the 11. tvas prepared to abdicate the Maori sovereignty and assume the title of Superintendent. It is asserted that in the discussions which led to this conclusion the king statthat, to maintain the sovereignty would assuredly involve further war; that but for the last war all theh- people would have been with them now ; but many were dead, and a fresh war would lead to the death of a great many more. We by no means pledge ourselves for the accuracy of this intelligence, but as a conclusion devoutly to be desired, we give it in the hope that the next mail from Auckland may bring some confirmation of its truth. Another report is, that his majesty has become a proselyte to the tenets of Rome.— News. Oct. 2. NELSON. Peizs Wheat at the Great Exhibition. —A private letter, received from England, by a gentleman residing in Waimea, states that the first prize for wheat, at the International Exhibition, has been awarded to a sample grown by our worthy fellow-colonist, Mr. 11. Redwood, jun. AVo shall be glad to see this confirmed by an official statement. — Examiner, Sept. 3. Valuable Horse Stock eoe Nelson. —The prize cart stallion, at the recent Royal Highland Society’s Exhibition, has been purchased for Mr. 11. Redwood, of this colony, in company with a umber of thoroughbred horses belonging to W. Robinson, Esq., of Cheviot Hills — Examiner , Sept. 3. MARLBOROUGH. The political affairs of this Province have, in an extraordinary manner, been brought to a standstill, and it will require the interference of the General Government to set them going again. It appears that upon the assembling of the newlyelected members of the Council, the Superintendent at once prorogued it, in consequence of the case relating to the election for Upper Wairau being undecided ; and he, along with six of the members, then left the Council Chamber. Those left behind, however, procceeded to elect a Speaker, and a Superintendent (Mr, Eyes) and demanded the public documents from the Clerk, who refused to supply them. After some other business, they adjourned till the following day, when on rc-as-sembling at the Government Buildings, they found the doors locked. After fruitlessly demanding the key and the public documents, they adjourned to the Tasmanian Hotel, where business was proceeded with. After a motion to the effect that the public offices should be removed from Picton to Blenheim had been carried, the Council adjourned until the 21th October instant. CANTERBURY. The attractions of the Hartley gold-fields were causing serious derangement in the labour market of Canterbury. The Press boldly proposes an expenditure of £50,000 for immigration in the next year, and that at least two or three ship-loads of young women should be brought out. Mr. Duppa has sold his sheep station for £150,000. Two gold prospecting parties, regularly equipped and officered, were about to be sent by the Government to search for “diggings” within the Province. OTAGO. The Otago Diggings, —The s.s. Queen, Captain Pole, from Otago via Lyttelton, arrived in this harbour on Sunday afternoon, with the European mails The mails were conveyed to Otago by the s.s. City of Jlnrhart, which arrived at Port Chalmers on the 18th hist, with about 300 passengers. The Daily Times says ; —“A large number of vessels were being laid on at Melbourne for Otago. The Lightning is reported as being full, having 700 passengers on board. The Blanche Moore, of nearly 3000 tons capacity, was on the berth. The rush for Otago from all parts of Victoria is described as being very great indeed.