OPOTIKI.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 6, Issue 334, 21 December 1865, Page 1

OPOTIKI.

PROJECTED EXPEDITION AGAINST THE ENEMY. (From the Southern Cross, December 16.) The steamer Huntress arrived yesterday from Tauranga,bringing newsof some interest from Opotiki, which has been communicated to us by Captain Stalker. Our readers will remember that on the 4th instant we gave a description of the gorge at which the rebels have posted themselves in the neighborhood of Opotiki. Various expeditions have been sent out to try to discover some route by which the position could be turned ; as it was deemed impracticable, from what was known of the position, to make an attack in front. Col. Lyon, who has succeeded Major Stapp in the command of the East Coast Expeditionary Force, has, we now learn, after despatching several reconnoitring expeditions; determined to attack the position ; and as it was anticipated that the natives would make a stand, we may expect to hear soon of an engagement. So far as was known in non-military circles at Opotiki, the natives have not erected any fortifications, but trust entirely to the natural strength of the place. The method in which the attack was to be made, whether by an attempt to turn the position, was not known when the latest news left'Opotiki. No communication had been received from Wellington as to the disposal of the prisoners tried for the murder of Fulloon. A weekly mail service has been organised between Tauranga and Opotiki, which will be a great convience to those engaged in the expedition, and by which news from Opotiki will be sooner received in Auckland than hither to has been the case. Captain Perce, of the Wanganui Cavalry, who was wounded in the thigh some time since, at Opotiki, and was removed to Tauranga, for conveyance to Wellington, is, we are sorry to learu, in such a feeble state of health as not to be able to bear the fatigue of the journey to Wellington.