POVERTY BAY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 6, Issue 328, 30 November 1865, Page 2

POVERTY BAY.

With reference to the late spirited affair at Poverty Bay, we take the following extract from a private letter received by the p.s. Sturt:—

“ We have at length been in action in the true sense of the word, for I suppose it has been one of the hardest, most spirited, and most successful that has been fought during the whole period of the rebellion. It continued almost sans intermission during the whole of five successive days, and it was not until the morning of the sixth day that we were enabled finally to quiet the rebels, when they were only too glad to yield under a flag of truce. We were not meddled with during our march from the redoubt to Goldsmith’s homestead, but we found next morning that, all the houses- in the neighborhood of the pa, except the Bishops, had been destroyed, and we were only just in time to save that, as it was already partially destroyed on our arrival. Here it was that the fighting commenced, the enemy having sent out a skirmishing party, who opened fire upon us, but they were quickly driven behind the palisading of the pa, and the firing was kept up on both sides all day. Our casualties were two natives killed, and two of our men and two natives wounded. But the best thing that occurred during the whole engagement happened on Sunday, when a very large body of them came down upon us under the pretence of a flag of truce, but with the manifest intention of our destruction, if we had allowed ourselves to be taken in by it. However, we were too wide-awake for them, and received them at about 200 yards distance with a volley from our rifles. This caused them to throw off the mask and their shawls at the same time, and take cover under a hedge and in a ditch, where they left 34 of their number dead within half an-hour, beside some 50 more wounded, lots of whom were afterwards killed in their attempts to reach the pa. There is only one thing we regret in this affair, which is that we had not our horses saddled at the time, as if we had, not one, probably, of all the attacking force would have escaped: as it was we have taught]them a lesson they will not soon be able to forget. We had but one man wounded, and that not very seriously. On Saturday our party had a slight mishap, in which we lost five men, besides others wounded more or less severely. We had an advanced party who were expecting a reinforcement of friendly natives, and who were deceived by a party of rebels, who came upon them in the disguise of the friendlies, and took them unawares. They were, however, very quickly put to the rout by our fellows, who showed them that we can’t be caught napping, and were driven back to their pa, with the loss of eight killed and some wounded. All accounts agree that the rebels had a tremendously strong pa—a good many of the Military Settlers say, much stronger than Pukemaire. I shall bring in a sketch of it when I return ; If they had not surrendered, we should not have taken it without some trouble. As it is, I believe that our fighting in Poverty Bay is nearly or quite over, most of the enemy having deserted their pas, and gone towards Wairoa, where, I believe, we shall have another brush with them, but not any nearer to Napier than that. When it does occur, you shall hear from me again.”