RUMOURS OF WAR.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 71, 6 November 1862, Page 3

RUMOURS OF WAR.

To the Uditor of the Nelson Examiner. Sm—ls it true, as stated in the Examine,- of today, that wc have only 5,000 troops in New Zealand ? If so, I fear, from information which I have this week received from two Maori chiefs, from Motueka, that, we shall shortly find ourselves in a dilemma. The natives often make mo acquainted with (heir secrets, and they have told me that a grand o!furt is about- (o be made, almost immediately, to crush, the pakeha ; (hat the Waikatos are arranging lor the concentration of the whole ol the natives capable of lighting, and to make one grand iimil struggle to drive out the pakeha. Messengers and letters have been sent off, to all parts ol the islands, requesting the co-opera-tion and help of all. and to meet at the Waikato at a given time, and that time, they tell me, is very near. They (the natives of Motueka) have received a lot tor, instead of a messenger, requesting them to be there at the time appointed, but they refuse logo. “No ie Qnini. Ha lore,” thev say ; and they have also had hoisted the Queen's Hag. Now, supposing (hat, by (his, dodge, the Waikatos succeed in getting io,OOU men together.Mr even 5,000, every man amongst Ihcm, in their mode ot warfare, is nearly equal to an Englishman ; and, as such, can we meet. 10,000 natives, with 5,000 English troops ; or can we meet 5,000? We might, if the whole ot the troops could be concencentratcd at a given “spot; but Auckland must be protected, Taranaki also, and Wanganui, Wellington, and Hawke’s Bay : and thou where is vonr foree*lo resist this contemplated attack? The natives are shrewd ; they know your weakness, and intend shortly, it seems, to take advantage of it.— I am, Ac., W. Hough. Nelson, October 11.