WANGANUI

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume V, Issue 228, 17 February 1865, Page 2

WANGANUI

SIGHT DAY S’ LATES HEWS. VIA AUCKLAND. TV e have news from the seat of war to the 3rd in=t. TVe give (ho following from the Chronicle of February 4 : Mott® Troops.— On Thursday, the Alexandra arrived in the endng with a detachment of the / riigt. ti’om laranaki. They were brought nj) tni‘ vxvrr in the course of the same dev in the Sandfly and Gundagai, and yesterday morning at sis o clock proceeded towards the front. They eonsh; ct d/ij rank and file of the* ivgiment, with and deckhouse, Lieut. Huskisson, (■.■.’.signs Aoimg and Lennar J, and Assistant-Sur-g'jii Jcn>;n ; the whole being commanded' by hlajor- uoUicrfurd. TVe understand that the Alexandra next brings from Auckland to Taranaki a detachment of the 4Srd Hegiment, to replace l';e d 7 J men of the foth brought down here ; and to TVaagaiiui a party of the 571 h arrived in Auckland on the hist ult. from Auckland by the Nelson, t'his altc noon, the Wanganui has arrived from Wellington wilh. 142 men of the 14th, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Dwyer. The ofnor commissioned otlieers are Captains Buck and C'ancey, Ensigns Green and Caldwell, and Dr. Bonnet.

-Kat iwi avkbouhts. —On Thim-da v aftcrnoou the militia and volunteers proceeded to these redoubts, and alter a fatiguing march in the middle of a very hot day, arrived at their destination iu safety. In htewart’s -Redoubt four officers and 85 men look up their quarters, Captain Porter, W.R.V., taking the command; and four officers wiin 72 men, under the command of Cant. Xixovi, took possession of Woodall's Bedoubt, which was but half built, but is now finished. The cavalry, to the number of 12, under Cant. Cameron, went out later in the day, and are employed patrolling along the Xai Iwi. The rifles met with a rather unpleasant'reception on the day they went out. On then 1 arrival the redoubts were entirely cleared of food ; and it lamed out that the parties of the 2nd battalion of the 18th Koyal Irish, who had proceeded on the same day to Camp Alexander, had captured the rations destined for the militia and volunteers, and were by that time too far off to be pursued and overtaken. The new comers had therefore to go to bed suppevless, and wait patiently for the arrival of the ration cart next day. A correspondent suggests that the Queen be advised to allow the men of the 18th, who distinguished themselves by this capture, to wear two pork chops saltierwise on the skirts of their tunics likely to bo nearest the enemy.

Maohis Kiixed at XuKUjr.uuj. —ln the account we gave of this engagement it was mentioned that about one hundred Maoris, it was thougiit, must have boon killed and wounded. Vve considered that probably' an over-estimate, but it turns out from the native accounts that it was not tar irotn tlni truth. Tlio Up-river natives have sent down a statement signed by three assessors, who vouch for it being the truth as reported there. The report came through a native belonging to Pipenki, who was in tlio fight, lie returned to x iperiki, and his arrival caused a great noise and crying, which attracted the notice of the loval natives, one of whom (Te Wetene) slipped over to I chi s pa and heard the returned man give an account of what had taken place. Te Wetene says that 77 men were reported as killed and one as mortally wounded. Of these 77 there were seven chiefs, one (Te Arawn) belonging to the Agatimaniapoto, and six to the Xgatiruanui, namely—Wiremu Xera, Rawiri, Eopiko, Horomona, Toriakma, and Aterea. Besides these, the name of a Wailolara native is given (Hamuera), and those of two other Xgatimaniapoto—Te Whsubaae Auki, and Hatonio. The list will be lemembered by some of our readers as the man who was brought up before the Eesident Magistrate’s Court a few months since by Mr Standfsh, ol laranaki, for horse-stealing. The man mortally wounded was Pehimana, a Waitotara chief, known to many of our readers. He was shot in the thigh and through the chest. There were no natives killed in the first encounter on the Tuesday evening as at first reported. One man was hit in the forehead, but the ball, instead of penetrating, grazed the top of bis head, Te TJa declared this

to be a good omen—an indication lliat the Pai Marire fanatics were invulnerable; and the poor Maoris, accepting the omen, resolved to make the attacic oil the following day. T!io bidief in their invulnerability account’s for its boldness. They say that they vail make another attempt, and that it they are again beaten they will give up the contest.

Up 'xiin Eiveju— Zaiwhiko is held by about 26 loyal natives, introduced into this pa on Saturday last by Mr White, who went up, as it will bo remembered, in the Gundogai. There was no ono in it who made opposition, the few natives who were there being taken completely by surprise, and at once avowing themselves to be Mr White’s children. The Gkmdagai proceeded up as far as near Parakino, returning because it was feared that if she went further the breadth of the stream would not permit of her being easily turned. She came down’the' river in the afternoon. Another rumor of a threatened attack by Pohi at Banana has come down the river, and Mclo Kingi, John Williams, and one or two other assessors have been sent up to help in the defence. The attack was to have been made on Thursday last. General Cameron, with ins staff, returned to the camp on Wednesday. On the previous day he went to the; mouth of the Waitotara in the Sandfly, but did not enter the river. MURDERS BY THE REBELS. By'the s.s. Wanganui, which arrived early on we (New Zealand Advertiser, Feb. 14) received the following Extra which had been issued on Fidday last from the Chronicle office : Murder of J. D. Hewett Esq,, M.P.O.—An unusual gloom has been thrown over the town this morning by the intelligence that Mr J. D. Hewett, of Pakerere, was murdered at his own place last night. A man came in this morning to Stewart’s redoubt, who said that ho had gone out this morning from town to Mr Hewett’s and on entering the house found that it had been plundered, and that no one was there. He immediately made for the redoubt, where Tie arrived between four and five. A party of rifles which had got ready to proceed with {he lancers to Woodall’e was immediately sent by Captain Porter to Mr Hewctt’s under command of Lieijt. Wickstccd. On approaching the house they found a body lying on the road witii the feet in the direction of the town. It was heedless; the head and neck having been cut off close to the collar bone Mr Gottyp.of Kaikokopu, who was with the party, informed us that he saw no mark of a gun shot on the body ; but that there were three gashes on the left arm, which was lying close beside the body, while the other arm was stretched out. The party found that the house had been ransacked by Maories. After the rides left the redoubt, a servant of Mr Hewett’ 3 arrived there breathless in his shirt and trowsers, who said that last night Z\lr Hewett and ho wera alone in the home. The dogs began to bark, and Mr Hewett remarked that they must be barking at cattle; the servant said, “ jNo, it must be Maories.” On this Mr Hewett went out on the verandah in front cf the house wifii n revolver, and seeing a Maori, fired two shots. The Maori fired at him, and the servant Says bo was shot in the abdomen, and ho hoard him say “ I am done for,” and saw him fall. The servant, who was still in the house, on this made for 1 he bush, wln-re he hid him-oif till this morning. This is all that is yet known of the matter. Mr Hewett was much respected in this district for his many excellent qualities, and his loss will be widely and deeply regretted. He has left a widow and four children.

1 p.m. Asotixer Meeder. —lntelligence has just come into town of the murder of a militiaman at Woodall's redoubt. Three men were out last night in a gully in the neighborhood of (he redoubt, looking for peaches or potatoes, and were attacked by Maories. They made for the redoubt, and two of them reached it in safety. The third not having made his appearance was searched for this morning, when his body was found in the gully, much mutilated by tomahawks, lie was one of the road party, but his name has not yet been reported in town. A native bullock-driver was marched into camp this morning by the outlying sentries; he was discovered beyond the lines in the direction of the pa, and strong suspicion is entertained that he was in the act of going over to the rebels.