WANGANUI.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume V, Issue 251, 12 April 1865, Page 3

WANGANUI.

THE FRONT. „(From the correspondent of the Advertiser.) Camp Manntahi, March 17,1865. St. Patrick's Dav.—-Five years to-day the first shot of the present war was fired at Waitara by .Colonel Gold, then commanding her Majesty’s forces in New Zealand, and here wo arc still in arms against the natives, and in the same province where the war first originated, with as little', "■ -and. indeed, fur less prospect, of bringing it to a satisfactory termination than, there was on that day, when the first.shell whs thrown’at the I, pa A. convoy of commissariat supplies arrived from Patea to-day.' I noticed the arrival of Captain Cad ell, Superintendent of Water Transport, and Mr Nelson, whoihas charge of the surf boats. It is the opinion of the latter gentleman that the boats will not be able to get into the river, which empties itself into the sea at Manawapou, and 1 that the General will have to go as far as Waimate before lie can land supplies from the sea ; but as no one seems to be positive it is quite pro- ? table that supplies can be landed at Manawapou, which will be-done if possible, as the rebels appear to have established themselves between Manawapou and Waimate for the purpose of opposing the march oft lie troops, and the road between ithis camp. and Patea will absorb all our - transport (land) and detach a force from the General’s moving column for the purpose of conveying supplies. Captain Percy, with a party of tliq Cavalry Volunteers, arrived at this camp yesterday. This arm of the local force is to be made ' up to. fifty men Tor the field, and I believe it. very nearly numbers that now. '..■■■■ A partyofthOvSTth under Major Butler moved forward in (he direction of Manawapo this morning for the purpose of making the road passable fqttcarts.. A party of Engineers also accompanied for the .samo purpose. Natives ware seen about " - the settlement, and no doubt will be found, very etauvertierit lo it qqme oi that* mornings. .

The cattle driven in belonging to the natives, or rather what they once-stole from the settlors in this province, are in the - first place taken charge of by the Commissariat Department, who pav the parly who drives them in £1 per head. 'The Commissariat then disposes of them to the contract butcher at 3d per lb., who supplies theta to the troops at tho contract price of so much per lb. —( suppose something about Gd per lb.;* being the contract price paid by the Government. The carts .are out to-day carting potatoes forward to Manawapou; but large quantities of hdlli articles will have to be destroyed, as it would be impossible to remove the whole. I think this settlement must have been a central depdt for supplying the rebels engaged in rebellion in either the Taranaki province or the Wanganui district, as it was impossible for any number of natives who may have ciainied this settlement as their home to have consumed in one year the quantity of potatoes which have been found hero. And as this vegetable forms a very important part of the natives’ food, they must bitterly feel before long the absence of the potato, as it is not at all likely that they have- another single settlement between Wanganui and Taranaki, which they were depending so much upon upon for their supplies as they were doing from Mauutahi. Manntahi, March 22.

The force marches from here to-morrow morning, Waimate being tho supposed destination. A parly of the 57th regiment occupy Manawapou, where a redoubt has been built capable of holding a couple of hundred men. This redoubt will be held by a party of the 57th regt. The rebels are supposed to be in force about Wnimate, a number having been seen by the reconnoitring party of the cavalry when out in that direction the other day. , The news of the Sandfly being stuck on the. Patea. bar -has just arrived in camp, and the chances "are that this may have the effect of delaying the movements of the troops. It is strange that they persist in bringing the Sandflv into tiie Patea River, as I krow that it was Capt. Marks’ firm conviction from tne first that- it was not safe for a vessel of her draught to enter; but Captain Cadell says differently in his official report to tho Government on the subject. And my own opinion, and that of everyone'else who has seen the bar is, that if they will bring the Sandfly over it, she will leave her ribs on ir day, as" there is not sufficient water to bring her over with safety. The potatoes nr j beginning to get less about this settlement, but any one who did not actually see the quantity of potatoes at this place would iiiirdly believe the number i f -tons that have been made away with by the troops. I am quite positive very little- under 200 tons of potatoes were here when the troops first am., d.

Large numbers of cuttle have also been brought in. Scarcely a day passes wubout some milch rows and horses. being caught, and nearly all the cattle firove iu bear the brand •-f some European settler of Ta-anald. -I believe the brands arc kept by the Commissariat Department, who hand the cattle over to the conn-act butcher. • (From the Chronicle, March 25.) The ExPEDmox, up the llivEk. —Ths Gundagai steamed up to Parakino on Wednesday morning without dullculty. Parakino is a pa situated “ii the left bank of the riyer, and is about 30 miles by a native track which cuts off the winding of the stream. Mr ilogg, Provincial Engineer, has oeen engaged for a week or two past in surveying a line for f. ioad from the Little Wanganui, the place whore the winding of the stream commences,, to Parakino ; and when it is made, the access will he easy. The militia landed there and pitched their tents between the river and the pa, the natives in which were very friendly. On the day of of their arrival a native from Pipiriki arrived on his way down ths river for the purpose of taking the oath of allegiance. He mentioned that the natives of that place were willing to do likewise, but that they had been frightened by Tuhana, who said that he had dreamed that they had gone down to Wanganui and had had their heads cut off. This man resolved to venture, and if he wers allowed to come back the others would follo w. The oath of allegiance was t hen and there administered to him.; and it is probable that his report will bring the others down in a day or two, Mr. Booth went further up to ascertain how matters were, and it is understood that if the country is quiet the militia force will proceed further, probably as far as Pipiriki. Jt iintended to build a blockhouse at Parakino, and lay out a township, the natives having sold the site and 30,0d0 acres of land lying between the W angachuana, Wangaelm, and Wanganui immodiatemely outside ths present boundary of this settlement. There is access to this country from Parakino by native track running towards the Raugitiki, so that the possession of Parakina cuts off the.natives to the south ip . a great measure from the north, and if Pipiriki were occupied this isolation would be almost complete. The immediate importance of this step cannot be over rated, aud its ultimate effect on the prosperity of Wanganui will be very great. When the township is formed and and the country taken up, a steamer of proper power and of light draught of water-could run up daily during the whole year. Form the hill above Parakino all the heights in this neighborhood, the road stead, even Mr. Imlay’s house cun be seen, so that communication could esily be had, if necessary, by signals. The Hon. Major Atkinson, Lieut.-Gol. Logan, Dr. Mouatt, Mr. White, and some other gentlemen returned next day partly by the Guqdagai, by canoe, the Ghxndagai having got on a snag, from whieb'she did not get clear till Friday morning. We may add that the reach below Purakino was named, amid libations of champagne, after Capt. Fairchild, Fairchild’s'Reach.

The p.s. SandfiiT.—ln coming out from the Patea on Tuesday forenoon by the old channel this vessel -went aground on the bar. She was got off yesterday morning, and on her way into the river got ashore on the north side of the Patea just at its" mouth. Last evening she was got off without damage and came into this harbor this morning. The channel is again clear with 11 feet of Water; Vat as it 'shifts greatly (having altered its proposition about a third of a mile since the

1 roups left tli© W aitolarn) it is intended to appoint Homo one to, watch its vagaries and keep vessels I .formed of its position and depth. Moss IjAXD.—About half a million of acres, on the right bank of the Wanganui, and exteruling as far as have la on offered, we understand, for sale by the natives. A previous o3er of the same land was made about six months ago, signed by 500 of the natives connected with it, but was not then accepted. The Ahbbiei.—TheN.Z.S.N. s.s, Abnriri, Capt. Shnttleworth, has bemi taken up by the Govern* njent at £7OO a month, with coals, for the conveyance of troops and commissariat stoics. She is today, taking in part of the Rangatira’s cargo from Auckland, with which she will proceed to Patea.