ARRIVAL OF THE S.S. QUEEN.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 6, Issue 307, 18 September 1865, Page 2

ARRIVAL OF THE S.S. QUEEN.

IMPORTANT NEWS FROM OPOTIKI! SUCCESS OP THE COLONIAL TRO(3PS! THIRTEEN HAU HAUS KILLED! LARGE NUMBERS WOUNDED! THE BRITISH FLAG FLYING o» the SPOT WHERE VOLKNER WAS MURDERED ! CAPTAIN LEVY UNDER ARREST! NARROW ESCAPE of the P S. HUNTjfeE^S, AND TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY MEN I The arrival of the s.s. Queen, Qapt. Cellem, on Saturday night last, has placed us in possession of some rather important news from the scene of hostilities on the East Coast ; which 1 ‘was received in Wellington on the evening of the 14th, by the arrival of tfte. s.s. Storm Bird, Captain Thompson, which vessel had formed one of the expeditionary force. It would appear that the lauding of

the expedition bud been unopposed by the rebels, but that, shortly afterwards, a fight had taken place, which resulted in the utter defeat of the fanatics. Our readers will be' sorry to learn that Captain Levy, of Opotikl celebrity, who undertook to pilot the fleet, had been placed under arrest for putting the p,s. Huntress, of this port, on shore; and that h? is now a prisoner on board H.M.S.S Brisk. , , *

We take the following from the Advertiser of the 15th, being communicated to that Journal by its “ own correspondent ”;—

We arrived in safety at Hicks’ Bay on the 7th instant, at 9 a.m., in company with the steamers Lady Bird and Ahuriri. H.M.S.S. Brisk being then lying at anchor in the harbor, awaiting the arrival of the squadron. We remained at Hicks’ Bay for eleven hours, and we then left for Opotiki, where we arrived at 6'30 a.m. on the Bth, and anchored close iti shore. The three vessels having anchored, the p.s. Huntress, from Napier, steamed alongside the Lady Bird, and, having embarked Major Brassey and 250 men, she steamed for the shore, under the pilotage of Captain Levy. From one cause or other, which, to say the least, requires explanation, the vessel struck on the spit, and remained stationary, with the sea making a clean breach over her. The greatest consternation reigned on board the different vessels, but, of course, more especially on the Huntress, as the vessel was actually placed in this awful position within pistol range of the shore, where the Hau-haus were known to be in force, and without any apparent means of effecting an escape. Captain Hope, of the Brisk, which vessel had accompanied the expedition with a degree of alacrity worthy of the highest commendation, at once sent bis boats to the assistance of the stranded vessel, and in air incredibly short space of lime all were landed in safety on the shores of the renowned Opotiki. Upon reaching the shore, the men, under command ol Major Brassey, extended in skirmishir.g order, and look up a position on the left hank of the river, and there planted their flag. The delay occasioned in consequence of the stranding of the Huntress rendered it unsafe, and, indeed, impracticable to put the Native Contingent on shore as had been intended, and the gallant Major 'Macdounell and his men were left on board the Storm Bird to chafe under the feelings eugered by uncertainty. Here a serious contrelemps occurred which might have been untended with most serious consequences. A heavy gale sprung up from N.W., aud the whole fleet was obliged to put to sea, aud finally they anchored under White Island for shelter, where they remained until Sunday morning. At nine a.m. on that day, the weather moderating, they got up steam, and shortly afterwards anchored in safety oft the Opotiki bar. During this time, howe%-er, the force on shore had not been idle. They had been attacked by the rebels, and had moved their position from fie left to the right bank of tiie river. Their position was tru'y precarious, having been obliged to expend a largeportion of their ammunition in keeping off the enemy, and their provisions running very short. But the gallant fellows held out nobly, and did their work well. The return of the fleet, as might be expected under such cir* cumstances, was hailed witfi rejoicing. On Sunday last the boats from the man-of-war, and the transport fleet were engage! in landing provisions aud ammunition, and on Monday the officers and men of the Native Contingent were left on the bank of the Opotiki River. The men evidently had their hearts in the cause, and they were not long ashore before they were engaged with the Hau-haus right and left. They burnt the wbares, and chased the rebels about in all directions. The gallant Yon Tcrapsky, who had been On board the Brisk, joined Major Macdonnell as a volunteer, and with a party of 50 bushrangers, and about an equal number of the Native Contingent, he took one road while Macdonnell took another, each agreeing to meet the other in the centre of the Hau-hau village. This they did accordingly, after destroying everything belonging to the Maoris in the road, and before sundown bn that day the British flag waved over the spot where poor Volkuer was so brutally ' murdered by the fanatics. On the same night the Hau-haus engaged our forces, and once again were they taught that their supposed invulnerability was nonsense. Thirteen of the rebels were picked up on the following morning, and 1 hear of no casualties on our side worth mentioning 1 —some narrow escapes, that’s all. Wo have a 6-pounder mounted ou the deck of the Huntress, which vessel is nbw inside tho

liver, and a 12-puander in position on shore* We have any quantity, of potatoes, pigs, bul locks, horses, carls, and so forth. I must tell you that Captain Levy is under arrest, and a prisoner cm. board the Brisk, fie is much blamed fur running the Huntress ashore, as it came very near being a very serious matter.

When all the troops were landed, the position on the left, bunk of the river was strengthened by a detachment of men under Major George, so that the Hau-hau village is virtually in possession of our men ; and all the’forces which the “ wild men” can bring against us will be of no avail, as far as dislodging us is concerned. 1 must tell you that in the opinion of those who ought to know,-we have onr work to do, as along the coast from Whakataue (where young Fulloon was murdered) to Opotiki there are pas—-some large and some small—with cultivations all round them ; from which it would seem that the Hau-baus did not anticipate any annoyance from the Government.

Judging from the expression of feeling manifested towards them when we are congregated around our camp fires at night, the conclusion is unavoidable that it will not require a very large hulk or a spacious gaol to hold all the prisoners which will be taken. We have not sufficient men to tel! off as a guard, and we have noticing but a church to put them in, and to use it for that purpose Would be sacrilege indeed. I forgot to tell you that when Yon Tempsky was on his way to meet Macdonnell at the village, he came across a pa from which by a dash he ejected the inmates, and burnt everything that would burn, after having taken all the loot wortli carrying off. You must excuse this hurried sketch, but iu my next I will give you full particulars of all current events.

[EEOM ANOTHER COEBESrOSDENT.I Hicks’ Bay, September 7,1865. I send you a few lines, in a great hurry just to let.you know how we have been getting on. The weather has been splendid. The three steamers. Lady Bird, Storm Bird* and Ahuriri, came to an anchor early this morning. The Rangatira followed us in, so that the Bay had quite a cheerful appearance, as the Brisk and her tender, the Huntress, were already here; the former has Major Von Tempsky on board, who goes with us, I believe, as a volunteer. There are some natives on shore; they had some flags flying, which they lowered as we were entering the Bay. We shall leave this place about 6 o’clock this evening, and it is expected that we shall reach our destination and land to-morrow ; a fight is expected. A gun is to be put on hoard the Storm Bird; when she will try the river, and if the natives fire on us, I have no doubt they will have occassion to regret it. If 1 have time I will write more ; at all events. Twill do so by the first opportunity after any skrimmage.

THE OFFICIAL DESPATCH. The following despatch was received by bis Excellency on the evening of the 14th, and was read to the House of ilepresen atives by the Native Minister amidst loud cheers: — H.M.S.S. Brisk, off Opotiki. September 12,1863.

Sra, —I have the honor to infer your Excellency that I arrived at Hicks’ Bay on the 2nd inst., and that the steamers conveying the expedition for Oootiki arrived on the morning of the 7th. The expedition sailed from Hicks’ Bay that evening, and arrived off this place at daylight on -the morning of the Bth. 'i he division on board the Lady Bird immediately embarked on board the steamer Huntress, arid the weather being fine and bar favorable, she proceeded into the river, piloted by Mr Levy, and although that person professed a perfect knowledge of the place, and also examined the bar from the masthead of the Brisk, from whence I also took a survey of it, and saw a distinctly marked channel, which I pointed out to him —ei her from utter imbecility or gross treachery, he delibeiately ran aground completely out of the channel. Meanwhile I had ordered the boats of the vessel to land the native contingent Irom the Storm Bird, but when this disaster happened every boat was in requsition to land the 2UO men from the Huntress, which vessel was hopelessly aground, for that tide, at all events, and this party could only be landed •on the sandspit at the mouih of the river, where they entrenched themselves as they best could. Scarcely was this done when the wind suddenly S et in strong from the N.W., and a heavy sea got up which not only rendered the bar impassable, but obliged the squadron to put to sea, and after laying to for the mght we anchored next morning Under the lee of White Island. The position of Major Brassey and his men was alvery critial one, as they were only 3JO strong, surrounded by the enemy, with but a small quantity of provisions and no; much ammunition. 1 had, however, placed a six-pounder gun on board the Huntress, with an officer and men to work it, and also left a boat and crew in the liver to assist. Nevertheless 1 was extremely anxious for their safety, andth* wind having moderated, I ran down to Opotiki in the afternoon, leaving the steamers at White Island,' as the sun Wat still tunabtg’hifhi 1 had' the <#tiafiwlieti of Seeing the

Huntress afloat, andthe troops in safety, but the sea was so heavy I could not even anchor, and,returned to White' Island for the night. Next morning, the 10th, the vessels all weighed anchor at daylight, aid proceeded to Opotiki, but the bar was still impassable. Lieut. Fritton, with a boat’s crew, volunteered to laud in order to communicate with Major Brassey, but the boat was capsized, and although they got safe on shore, they, had a narrow escape. Yesterday morning, at daylight, the sea having greatly subsided, the vessels ail moved close in to the bar, and the work of disembarkation commenced. The Huntress was disabled, having broken her steam-pipe, and everything had to be done by the boats. In the course of 'the day we succeeded in landing nearly all the Native Contingent, besides a supply of tents, ammunition, provisions, and other stores, though the bar. was at times breaking heavily, and two boats were swamped. Happily however; no lives were lost. The natives, on landing, immediately spread in skirmishing order, drove before them a party of the enemy, seized a pa, burned the surrounding whares, and then occupied the town, which .they now hold; and I should think this must have had a dispiriting effect on the Hau-haus, of whom I hear that several were ■

On the first evening after landing the enemy opened fire upon Major Brassey’a party, but 1 have nut heard as yet of any casualties on our side except one tor two slightly wounded. I J There still remain to be landed about 130 men, besides a quantity of stores, provisions, and ammuni.ion. If it has aU to be done by the boats it will take some days, even if the weather remains fine, but 1 trust that the Huntress may soon be got ready for service again, as our engineers are at work upon her defects.

I have desired the master of the Huntress to remain at Opotiki for the present, as the vessel will be extremely useful in the river; but she will require a supply of coals soon. It is absolutely necessary that there should be a steamer of light draught stationed here to take supplies across the bar, or else there must be surf boats established. The Huntress is nobwell adapted for this service, as she has not sufficient power to steam against the freshes. Nothing can exceed the cheerful behaviour of the colonial troops under these trying circumstances ; the first three nights they were landed they had neither tents nor blankets, and it rained in torrents.

1 hare omitted to mention that 1 have landed a 12-pounder howitzer, and a 24-pounder rocket tube, wiih a small party to assist until tha force is all disembarked. 1 have the honor, Ac., (Signed) Chables W. Hope, Captain and senior naval officer, N.Z. Major Atkinson also stated that he had himself received letters from Opotiki, from which he would read extracts. The one from Major Brassey, commanding the detachment, stated that thirteen dead rebels were counted. The other, from the Commander of H.M.S.S. Brisk, stating that he had a clear view of the whole affair, and that “ the native contingent was ttie admiration of ns all. We could see it all from the ship, and it was beautiful!"