The War on the East Coast.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IX, Issue 465, 28 March 1867, Page 2

The War on the East Coast.

TAURANGA. FIGHTING AT ROTORUA. TAKING AND OCCUPATION OF A PA BY THE ARAWAS. (From the Special Correspondent of the Southern Cross.) Ohinemutu, Lake Rotorua, March 3rd. I am sorry to say that I cannot give so favorable a description of the condition of these parts ns was given by Sir George Grey in his famous letter to Mr Whittaker. The people of Puhirua Pa refuse' to take the oath of allegiance, to give up their arms, or to leave off their Hauhau. faith. The Ngatiwhakaues hare occupied the pas of Puraku and Orupanga, driving the Hauliaus into the bush, and taking iwo prisoners. J After the wars of Te Wabaroa at Roto I raa, it was decreed that for ever after then-* should be peace in that district. Ibis hafl n >yr been broken. ] I left Taursnga on Tuesday, Feb. 2 j in the Sturt, Captain Fairchild, for Ma | kelu. About 150 Arawas were on board who were going back to Rctoiti and Ho torua. Statements bad t-een Drought to i’auranga that the Hauhaus at the upper end of Lake Rotorua were threatening tc take advantage of the absence of the men, and had even—out of anger at their going to war, and at the seizure of P. Grant—destroyed a quantity of their crop*, T) was tbs cause of (be return of so mat from Taurauga to their own district. _

good iahuy of the natives had partakes rather freely before starting, but Captain Fairchild easily managed to keep them ' all in order. Two of the native* whop were wounded were on board, and it was i ‘ gratifying to see the care taken of them by j \ their friends, the chiefs of their respective i hapus taking them in their arms while 1 they were being landed. The Maoris* were anxious that the large Hauhau dag taken from Hskaraia should be hoisted on the Sturt; and this was done. On coming near Makatu, a rough feu de-joie was fired. The landing was effected with some! difficulty, as the tide was too iow to ai- 1 low the Sturt to go into the river. On Wednesday, I visited the localities about :, Maketu, and also the school, but I cannot Ts~?r~tc what 1 saw of them. On Thnr*. ! day I left for Botorua, in Company with!■ Philip and Hans Tapsell (two stalwart half-castes, who have done the Government good service), Wi Maihi, Kiharoa te ' Koha, and several other natives. The way is very good for some seven or eight miles from Maketu, roads having been made across the swamps by the natives, at j! the Government expense. After that, the road leads through the mountainous country with belts of forest. Amongst the hills we were met by a messenger with a letter for Marsh from the people of I the Puhi'ua pa, to say that they did not j want to fight, but were willing to have s talk with him. I may say that the people I at Puhiruaare at the JSgatirangiwewehi]' Lapu of the Arawas, aid Marsh and sere- i ral other influential men amongst the! friendlies are connected with them byj blood. It was determined that we should! go to a settlement named Xaikaitahuna, about a mile and a half from Puhirua, and j go on to that place next day. We reached Xaikaitahuna far on in the afternoon, when a long tangi took place, followed bypretty lengthy speeches, and a feast of potatoes, kumeras, and koura —a small crawfish from Botorua. I had taken the precaution to take a little tea, sugar, and salt; and I would strongly recommend persons travelling in native districts not to forget i the last-mentioned article. A family belonging to Puhirua lives close to the settlement, and on seeing Marsh, Kiharoa, and myself ride in, they left their house and ran off to the pa. I may mention that the ] rest of the party had struck off for Rotoiti and Ohiuemutu, which is on the opposite aide of the lake from Xaikaitahuna. On { the morning of Friday, not long after dawn, a woman came into my whare, and •aid that a messenger had come from Pu-, hirua to warn me not to come to the p». After that three or four women came to the whare, saying that I should not go. I have a great respect for Maori messages of that sort, and also of advice from females, and I made up my mind to let Paliirua alone. When the canoe was starting, one of the men said that as 1 was not connected with the Government, but with the press, which had frequently opposed the Governor and the Government, that I would be quite safe to go to Puhirua. 1 quite believe that, but wishing to be on the safe side, I did not go. During the day, I went up the river in a canoe to see its sources which are three immense springs, whence the water comes up iu volumes. The river is the clearest 1 ever •aw. At the return of the party from Puhirua, I learned that the talk had been j mixed. Some of the principal people had! gone to the bush, but as they have a settle-j ment there, this may not mean that they; have gone to fight. One chief, named! Kiore, was very fierce, but the mass said] they would remain quiet. The discourse of Marsh and Htharoawas directed not so much to urging them to take the oath of allegiance, or to leave off their religion, which they knew would be wasting their talk, but urging them to have nothing to do with the fighting at Tauranga. To this Bewi and Xereopa had been got to agree. (1 may mention that the settlement at which I was, was the birthplace of

Koreopa.) The people of Puhirua declared to Marsh that they would cling to their religion and their ring but would not light unless attacked. Some of the refugees from Hekaraia’s place, at Te Puk’, ■were at Puhirun, but none from the Ak«abo or Whakamarama, and I belieTe it

lias jbeen ascertained that most ot these hare gone on to Patetere In the evening there was a komiti, or com* mittee, at Kaikaitahuna and a complete round of speechifying. The subject was about the young men going down to Tauranga. Next day (Saturday;, March the 2nd, Marsh, Kiharoa, and myself left for Ohinemutu. On the way wo had to

quickly as possible to Puraku, end just e; we got to the pah, five or six muskets were fired from the bush at the pah, which was occupied by the Kgsriwhskanes. What ft hubbub there was! every man talking at the pitch of his voice. I got J inside the pah, while Marsh and Kiharoa j went on into the bush to negotiate with, the fugitives. I learned here that Hans] Tagaell had started from Ohinemutu on I the previous day with thirty-five Ngatiraukawas, who are under his immediate com-: maud. Hgatiwhakaue would not start that night. TapsalT* party was too small! to surround the two pahs, and next dsy,j when the main body of Xgatiwhakane j cama up, the pahs were found deserted, and the people gone to the edge of the bush. Twice they fired volleys at the pah, but no harm was done; and twice messages were sent to them, telling them to come hack and give up iheir arms. This they positively refused. I am afraid that intelligence of the intended attack was given by some of the Ohinemutu people, as we found nearly everything carried out of the pah to the bush. Well, “ blood is thicker than water,” as the Scotch say. Marsh returned in about an hoar, also unsuccessful, but said lie had hopes that next day he would get on better. Then we had the war dance splendidly done, followed by the usual speechifying. I cannot give any idea of the jumping and grimacing, or the highly poetic language used by the orators ; but I can give the substance of the talk. Wi Kepa said he would keep up the war till a !chief of the Hauhaus, named Wi Teatuajherangi, is seized. Ngahuru said ke would take the land from the Hauhau, and would !go on to Waikato, getting the pakehas to help him. Pango said said that this was the first time since the compact that there; had been war at Botorua, but that now it . must go on. He would not go to Botorua, but would await the War Minister. If an answer to go on were received, the Arawas would sweep the whole country till they got Kereopa. Okiwi, Paora, Araohau, and several other speakers said that the pakehas should come and help them if they were going into Waikato. Marsh, Kiharoa, and several others, having addressed the men, 1 was called on, and ; asked to take notice of the words of the Arawas, that the pakehas might know the, natives are doing all the negotiating and j I fighting. There is no European olucer : here. I have not seen a European siuccj leaving Maketu. It was decided to leave] ;tho pah and the food. Tapsell, however, I took an axe, and soon levelled the nur The Hauhaus have destroyed the plantations of the following men, which were; near the pa:—Paora Auioiiau, Wi Kepa, Henri Tupara, Isgahaua, Kima, Timati,; Fera, Puru, Hakaraia, and Okiwi. I must not omit to mention that I was introduced iu the pah to the joint editors of the; Botorua Gazette, Ngahaus siulTe Warihi, 1 who welcomed mo very cordially to liotp i rua. They have suspended their editorial | iabi urs in the meantime. I left, the Arawas there, and came on to Ohinemutu,] amongst the wonderful boilinu springs.] It is a beautiful pla e, ami convenient] besides, as you have water from cold up to] boiling, and ull the cooking is done in ovens made by nature. j I hear that messages have been sent Ifrom here to Patetara asking assistance, and the Arawaa have sent to Colonel (Llaultain to know if tkoy may go on to ' W aikato.

ptsa Uie Puhirua Pah, which has been a xery strong one, and would need four times the number of men now la it to man it properly. Wo rode round without seeing any one, and at the other end two natives ■were waiting for us from Ohineimitu. Marsh and J£iharoa here went inside the pah, while I was directed to remain outaide. I amused myself with looking at the niu, or Hauhau pole, which is outside the pah, and enclosed., and in the enclosure is fitted three not badly formed Gothic •windows. I then went up to the gate oi the ntih. and, on peering over, saw a mac with a musket slung across his back, 1 did not like the look of that, and trotted off on the track to Ohmemutu. As I wju going along, a canoe from Puhirua came close in shore, and a man stood up calling out “Xena koe, pakeha,” which the na> tires here say was a good *'gn of showing the disposition of the people of Puhirua The others shortly came up, and when wi were about half way on the road to Ohine matu, we mot a woman, who told ut tha' the Kgatiwhskanes had gone that morning to the Baraka Pah. and had driven tin people into the bush ; indeed the peopli of Puhirua had beard the firing, and hac old Siharoa about it. We todf a