AUCKLAND.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 7, Issue 377, 17 May 1866, Page 1

AUCKLAND.

Native Ogteagb at Wabgaboa.— During her last trip down to Wangaroa (a port between the Bay of Islands and Mongonui), on the 30th March last, Captain Delano* of the Hirs, had as passengers, from Auckland, two young women, half-castes, but who have been brought up by and among Europeans. One of them was the •daughter of the late Mr James Whitaker, and she went down to Wangaroa on a visit, having received intelligence of the death of her father. The other woman, also a half-caste, accompanied Miss Whitaker as an attendant. Upon the Hira leaving to return to. Auckland, Miss Whitaker and her companion wont on board, intending to return to their home, but while the vessel was beating down Wangaroa harbor she was boarded by a canoe containing fifteen natives, who, forcing their way down into the cabin, seized the two women, threw them into their canoe, and carried them off to their settlement. Captain Delane, who behaved most nobly in the affair, though having no means of preventing the forcible abduction of the women from his ship, was determined that they should not, if possible, be left with their captors. He at once landed, and having secured the assistance of a chief named Paul, followed the natives and their prisoners to the settlement, and ultimately, through the aid of Paul and a payment of £5 in money; rescued the poor girls from the horrible fate in store for them, and got them on board his vessel without delay, and made all sail for Auckland, for even at this time another party of natives were collecting in their boat on the beach for the purpose of overtaking the vessel tyid recapturing the women. It is a great pity that the men-of-war lying in the harbor do not occasionally take a trip round the, coast, shewing themselves to the natives. At Wangaroa, for instance, the natives are very insolent and disorderly, from the simple

fact: that they never see any evidence of British power. Did a man-of-war occasionally visit these harbors on the coast, the effect upon the native mind would be a salutary one, and such visits would give confidence and support to the settlers. Wangaroa is a particularly neglected district. Thera is neither a Magistrate nor a Justice of the Peace in the district/no constable, and not even a Minister of any denomination.— New Zealand Herald, 7th May. The Late Chief William Natick.— The well-known chief of the Ngatimahanga tribe, whose death we noticed in the Herald of Wednesday last, and of whom our Raglan correspondent very properly remarked, “ we may truly say we have lost a good friend,” was one of the few natives who have given us no trouble during the unhappy war that has so long prevailed. A short account of this chief will be interesting to some of our readers. U util measures were adopted by the Wesleyan Missionary Society in the year 1831 to establish a mission in the Waikato district, Naylor, who was then known by the name of Te Awaitaia, was one of the greatest warriors in that or perhaps in any other part of the country. In connection with the late Potatau or Te Wherowhero, the subsequent Maori King, who always considered Awaitaia’s presence to be essential to success in every expedition against any tribe he wished to enslave or destioy, the lately deceased chief was invariably among the leading men of the Waikato armies, which at that time numbered half as many thousand men as there are hundreds now to be found. The people against whom the army of the Waikato tribes were principally carried were those who occupied the territory between Waitara and Taranaki proper, including the tribes now so well known to the European settlers as Te Ngatiruanui. It was on one of his expeditions of slaughter, and anthropophagy as -ufi* for some of his friends who had fallen in a former cotnpaign, that Te Awaitaia was met by a Wesleyan missionary, who dissuaded him from Lis purpose by telling him that there was a Hod m heaven so observant of the affairs of this world as to notice all the wrongs which men suffer at each other’s hands, and that a day was approaching when, in the exercise of a power which none would be able to resist, he would reward and punish every man according to his work, and that then he utu, tika would be given to all natives concerned in the affair that was taking him to Taranaki. Soon after this the first place of worship was erected at Waingaroa. At this church To Awaitaia, with his tribe, became a regular attendant, and was one of the most attentive hearers of the Gospel. After a few months’ instruction he expressed a desire to become a member of the Church; but as be had been living in a state of polygamy, and had not as yet made a public declaration of bis purpose of separating himself from eight of his nine wives, ho was of course required to do so. On the occasion of his marriage to the woman of his choice, he also consented to allow the separated women to become the wives of other men, a requisition on the part of the missionaries iu which some of the chiefs do not very willingly acquiesce. After undergoing the usual examinations as to fitness for Church membership, he received the ordinance of baptism, and was thenceforward known by the name of William Naylor. No sooner had he become a member of the Christian Church than he felt it to be his duty to use his influence to prevent other tribes, as well as his own, from going to war. In this he was greatly successful, the Waikato tribes not having paid any hostile visit to Taranaki since a few years before the commencement of the colony. Potatau used to say that the karakia of the pakeha had deprived him of his right arm, it having taken away his general Te Awaitaia. Ever since the establishment of the colony, Naylor has proved'himself a sincere friend of the Europeans, and whenever his influence has been sought by his old associates against what they considered to be the intrusion of foreigners, he has persistently refused his aid in furtherance of their wishes, and invariably advised them to a better course. To the gentleman under whoso religious instructions he lived during a period of twenty-seven years, ho frequently expressed his disapprobation of the policy adopted towards the rebel tribes, affirming that had they been firmly dealt with from the first appearance of disaffection, the evil would have been nipped in its bud, and the war have been prevented. In conclusion, we may justly repeat the words of our correspondent—" We have lost a good friend.”— Ibid.

Sir George Grey in his visits to various parts of the coast has met with some very rude treatment at the hands of the natives, whom he was desirous should come and meet him and have a talk about matters in general. At 'Tauranga ho had to use very decisive language to the deieated rebels there, and at other places they declined to meet him, though invited more than once to do'ho. They went into the interior to avoid seeing him. Among those who thus went into the bush rather than see his Excellency were Kewi and Matutaera. Sir George could not get near enough to the birds to put salt on their tails, neither could honied words induce them to see the Governor. They allege, we believe, that they will have nothing more to say to his Excellency, because he has broken his word to them so often before, Thompson had gone so far as to consent to go with the Governor to Wellington, but it is reported that lie declines to do so, and in reply to the invitation of the Governor to do so saia, “ I will think of t e matiei, and perhaps follow on,*’ wiueu seems, to have been an evasive answer, Thompson hav-

i«g fully made up his mind to go in the wake of the Governor. It would appear that Sir George has as?ain failed in his efforts to dig around the Maori tree, aud so make it fail. It seems that although the rebel Maori chiefs declined to have any conversation with Sir George, they were glad enough so get medicines from him, for the Princess Sophia sent to him for some, and he forwarded what was required from the medicine chest of the man-of-war Eclipse—so the Governor’s visit has not borne that fruit expected from it. The rebels in that particular district are evidently not yet sufficiently humbled, and they probably never will be until they are treated very differently to what they have been. A policy which prolongs a state of war indefinitely is one disastrous alike both to Colonist and Maori, and while it is one over which we have no real and effective control, we are schooled by Mr Cardwell, and told all the bungling is ours and that we must pay for it.—lbid. -DiiSTKUCIIV-E CoKI'LAGiIATtOX AT AUCKLAND.— We condense the following from the New Zealand Herald, of the Bth inst: —A fire unequalled in respect to its magnitude since the great conflagration of the new Q C.E., occurred last night between the hours of ten aud eleven o’clock, in the ‘New Zealander’ office, involving, we regret to say, the complete destruction of the building and of a large quantity of valuable plant, type, paper, fixtures, &c. At one time the fire raged so fiercely as to threaten the numerous buildings contiguous to it, and indeed, that section of Shortlaud-street from Bartlett’s late shop to the foundations of the new Arcade buildings. At the time of writing, 1130, the only thing known is that the fire broke out at the back of the premises, and so rapid was its progress, that in less than three-quarters of an hour, the handsome building was entirely gutted. The walls are of solid brick, which had the effect of confining the area of the conflagration ; but on this account also the intensity of the fire, while it lasted, was all the greater. The actual damage to property, may at a rough computation, be estimated at from £9OOO to £IO,OOO. The insurances effected upon the property damaged, amount in the aggregate we understand, to about £B,OOO. The loss will principally fall upon the Auckland Insurance Company and the Royal. As regards the origin of the fire, we need hardly say that it remains, at tile present moment, mere subject for supposition. Mr Carson, the acting overseer, states that he was the last to leave the building, at six o’clock in the evening, when with his own hands he turned out the last of gas. An inquest was held on the 9th inst., when the following verdict was returned, “ The Jury are of opinion that the fire at the New Zealander office on Monday night, the 7th inst., originated in the compositor’s room, but how or by whose act there is no evidence to show.”