Interprovincial Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 757, 31 January 1870, Page 3

Interprovincial Items.

LATEST FHUMt WAIKA.TO. [From the New Zealand Herald, 13th January."] Intelligence was, we uaderstand, received yesterday that Te Kooti, with some, at least, of his followers is on the ranges, not far distant from Pate tere. Mr Firth, of this city, who is at present, we believe, on a visit to his station, near Matamata, has, it is said, received a message from Te Kooti assuring him that, because of the peace made by William Thompson formerly, he (Mr Firth) and hitpeople, the Kupapas, need have no fear —that there should be no fighting on their land. It is said that a second message from Te Kooti requested a meeting with Mr Firth, at a place to to be appointed, and that Mr Firth named the site of William Thompson's monument as the trysting place to which Te Kooti was to come. The time had not been fixed. If the story be true, it would appear that Te Kooti begins to think that, on the whole, he will do well to make peace with us, and, perhaps, forgive us the wrongs which we have done him in these late years. We shall be very curious to learn what kind of terms he will offer to the hated pakeha, now that he has failed to complete bis mission by driving him into the sea, or what offer of expiation he may make at the foot of Thompson's monument, Mr Firth's benevolent desires for peace and settlement are well known, and it is to be hoped that be is not running into personal danger by meeting such a miscreant as Te Kooti, although we cannot by any means applaud the course which he is said to be about to take. There is but one mode of dealing with Te Kooti and the like of him by which public justice can be satisfied. [".From the New Zealand Herald, 20th January J The interview between Te Kooti — we place him first as being recognised as a power in the State —and Mr Firth has taken place, with just such results as those who know anything about such matters have all along expected. Te Kooti does not seek absolution or remission, but says that fre is not

r particularly anxious to continue fight* ' iug, and will cease from strife on his terms granted by the Government; those 2 terms being that his own life'and the t lives of his followers be spared, and r that, in fact, the past —bis 7 proposition } amounts to as much--—shall be buried . in oblivion. ? Failing to obtain these conditions, ' it is bis intention to continue the war. We hear nothing further of tbe pur(suit by Rewi and the Ngadmaniapotos ; and as as to Kemp and Topia, these officials would appear to be altogether , out of their reckoning just now. Another report says that Mr Firth proposed to Te Kooti that, ou condition that his life and the lives of his followers should be spared by the Government, he with his force should make surrender; that Te Kooti, in reply absolutely declined to accede to any such terms. i It would be difficult to say with ; what object the interview was sought; apparently nothing whatever is likely to come of it. I A Waikato correspondent writes to I us as follows: —"No one is allowed to leave his own immediate neighborhood j during the present panic. Several ' have been stopped at Hamilton on 1 their way down. Guards are stationed ' on all the punts to prevent settlers l from leavivg the district; and 'sentry- J go' is again the order of the day. ( There is a great deal of excitement, * and some amount of suspense, but very little fear as to the ultimate result of events. Troops are riding about in all directions, as if they had important * business on hand; and some of our ( young men prefer this branch of miii- *• tary duty to that of keeping guard. - The last of the Constabulary under Mr Kenny, left Ngaruwahia at daylight on Sunday morning, and every t man in Ngaruawahia is performing - military ditty. You must not be led l away by all the telegrams that reach j Auckland. Same eager correspon- c dents rush off to the telegraph office * with every rumor they hear which is [ calculated to do a large amount of" mischief." The following telegraphic message ( has been received from our own cor- t respondent at Cambridge:—"Mr Firth, ' with Mr R. E. Campbell as interpre- ' ter, met Te Kooti by invitation, at ( Thompson's monument, on Monday 1 last. The interview lasted upwards t of an hour. His guard numbered ' about forty men, armed to the teeth ; . arms in splendid condition. The re- | suit of the meeting may be sum me;! I up in a few words, viz., 'Leave me l alone, and I will leave you ulone, I * will never surrender; and if attacked, | will fkdit to the death.' He wants to settle down at a place called Tapapa ( —a very strong position distant about < thirty miles from Cambridge. Tuere • are about 200 Volunteers and Militia j under arms here at present,and another ( 100 Militia from the surrounding dis- t tricts is expected to-morrow, under 1 Captain Rich, of Ohapu. It is gener- ! ally expected that a forward move- s [ment will be made by the Colonial < Forces and Volunteers, the settlement t in the meantime being garrisoned by | the Militia." ' J [From the N". Z. Herald's Correspondent.] l Cambridge, Jan. 20. ] Native messenger arrived from Tapuaehararu with despatches from Mac- j donuell. i Kemp and Topia joined him there, j They are moving this way in pur- j suit of Te Kooti. Will be at Whaka- s maru to-night. c They are about 800 strong. < Jan. 21. ; Te Kooti is still in the bush at the \ head of a range gully, near Kuranui. t It is not known whether all his people \ remained with him. From his present t position he has the choice of four c roads to Tauranga and two to ftotorua, s He has expressed his intention of i returning to his old place (inland from « Poverty Bay) for a time, —return- £ ing to Tapapa to settle. A false report having reached him last g night, through friendly natives, who t have the run of the camp during j day time, and learn everything that is 1 going on, that the troops have already , started from here in pursuit, it is ( more than probable that he will again J be enabled to avoid capture and elude ' pursuit, as he has so often done 1 before. As his position is overlooking ( I all the approaches, it is possible that j Ihe may wait until he finds them col- !

- lected in his front, and then quietly s give them the slip. Unless a shar] 3 look out is kept at Rotorua, it will in ? the old story, off again. 1 fProm the New Zealand Herald, 25th January.] • We understand that yesterday morn ing Colonel Moule ordered forward £ relief party with provisions and stores ' for Colonel M'Donnell, but it is ' doubtful whether the party will succeed in falling in with him. 1 Te Kooti is said to have now over : six hundred followers, Many of Te Hira's tribe are said to be with him, and his force has been augmented by desperate and excitable natives from various quarters. ' Mr Firth was, we understand, arrested by a government officer, but by orders from the Governme«t has since been released. Captain Beere has, it is rumored, been suspended from office in consequence of Mr Firth's arrest. A letter from Ngaruawahia says:— A detachment of ten men under 3er> geant Edgecumbe went away from here yesterday morning for Cambridge, and will probably form part of the force to go out after Te Kooti. It is to b« hoped the villain will be caught tins time. Most of the settlers about here are likely to lose the greater portion of tiieir crops in consequence of the Militia being called out; if this sort of thing lasts long it will ruin the district for a time. THE LATE MOTtDEE OF A WAIKATO SETTLEE. The correspondent of the Southern Cross gives the following report of the coroner's inquest on the body of John Scott Eiiiot Lyons, the settler whose body was recently found in a swamp •with a tomahawk wound on the head:— An inquest was held at Kihikihi on Friday before W. N. Searancke, Esq., 11. m, Acting Coroner, touching the murder of John Scott Elliot Lyons. The following gentlemen were sworn as jurors;—James Henderson, Esq., (foreman) Messrs An* drew floss, Matthew Hastie, I. Q. Tristram, John E.OSS, James Farrell, Robert Cockorline, George Maunders, Martin JSTeshesed, Charles Tern pie, James Canny. Edward Martin, sworn, deposed—l am a settler residing at Kilnkihi. Lyons wa* employed by me on the 4th and sth of January. On the 6th, Thursday morning he came to my house, and told me if the weather cleared up he would go on with his work. I wend to his house about 7 o'clock in the evening: he was xiot at home. The men who were there told me they thought he had gone to work that morning but they had not seen him since I went the next morning, and found no one. £ than proceeded to where lie was fencing, but did not s.;e him. i then went to Kihikihi, and was informed by Fitzpatrick that the deceased was at work for some one else. The only tool he had when fencing was a tomahawk, which has not been found. Henry M.oncreiff deposed: I saw Lyons on Thursday morning last. He was then getting ready to go to his work. I have not seen him alive since. I recognise the body I have seen now as that of J. S. E. Lyons, by the additional waistband of the drawers. He was in the habit of going to work on horseback. I did not see tiie horse until the Bth. He had my tetherrope. I \\-.\-j at the place where his body was found, but observed no marks of a struggle hiving taken place. Where he was iound could not be seen from the , track. When 1 last saw him he had on a pair of iiedfordcord trousers, strong tweed coat, blue cloth cap, and watertight boots. When I saw his body yesterday it was dressed in drawers and socks, and an old flannel shirt on his head.- I believe Lyons to have been an inoiimsive man. George Floyd deposed:—On the li'fch iust., on my return from Te Awamulu, I met near Mr Cowan's place a native named Rakana, of Aratitahia. He asked me if I had heard of any pakeha being murdered. I said "No ; but one was missing." He said it was quite true. In the evening he called at my house on his return home, and he told me what he had heard at a native settlement, to the following effect ; A native named iiihawa, formerly of Wharipapa but lately of Tokangamutu, told a friend of his (name forgotten, bu; who worked the big gun at Meremere) that he had killed a pakeha near Orakau, or Kihikihi, and the reason he gave waa ho wanted to take deceased's coat. He said, "Jack, I will take your coat." Lyons replied, " No ; " when he pulled the coat away, and a scuffle ensued. Lyons fell on the ground. Seeing his sheath knife stuck in his belt, the native drew it, stabbed hun, and then stripped him of his trousers, shirt, and boots, dragged the body near the swamp, and liihawa also stated that he. had the clothes on him, I enquired if he had given information to the authorities at Kihikuu j he said no, but he said they would get the information on the following day. I know the native mentioned in Te Penato's letter to Captain Bockett. His name is Tamata Kihana. He is a bad man. The Maoris all give him the same character. 1 believe deceased was murdered solely for the sake of his clothes, or rather becjiU3<jj he objected to his coat being taken,

yi Sub-inspector Watts, A,C, Kihikiiijj, % p sworn-Mr Cowan, of Orakau, came &»j' me yesterday, and showed me a written by Mr Floyd, which led me to believe there bad been some foul play concerning Lyons' disappearance. I proceeded to the place where deceased was working, - accompanied by Sergeant Dooley, mounted I constable Duval, and Mr Cowan. This 3 spot was on Martins farm. Dooley pointed . out where he found the saddle the previous day. Proceeding onwards about 300 yard*, ' a strong foatid smell was perceptible. I scattered the party to ascertain the cause . E went to the right and found the stench unbearable. About midway in the fern ' slope I came suddenly on the body, lying 1 on its back, legs straight, and face covered by a cloth or flannel, body much deeoan* posed and ribs perceptible. I told Dooley and Duval to say nothing about the matter until I had informed the authorities. I gave the necessary information to the Coroner, Dr Waddington, of To Awamutu, who ordered Dooley $0 empannel a jury. I believe the natives were cognisant of the murder, as they all left the settlement when the body was found yesterday. E. Waddington, Esq/, M.D., Coroner and J.P., deposed—l have examined the body now lying in the stable and find it much decomposed, thereby preventing me from making a minute examination. I found a suppuration of the bones of the head, and left side, partly the result of decomposition. The temporal bone had been cut in two by a sharp instrument. 1 was unable to discover a wound on the left side of the body, owing to its being so decomposed. I cut the integuments of the skin of the centre of the body, and found the internal organs destroyed by the same cause. There are no fractured ribs. L believe, from the decomposed state in the left in comparison with the right, tint it must have received some wounds or injury, evidently with a knife, or other sharp instrument; and the deceased must have been subsequently despatched with a tomahawk, by the blow on the head, which alone was sufficient to cause death. Verdict: " That a certain native or natives nt present unknown did, on or about the 7th day of January, 1870, feloniously, wilfully, and of malice aforethought, kill and murder the aforesaid John Scott Elliot Lyons." LATEST FROM TAUBANGA. (Prom the New Zealand Herald's Correspondent.) Taubanga, Jan. 15. Nothing has transpired here of grave importance since the departure of tbe s.s. Tauranga on Thursday, except, perhaps, that some 200 of Mr Campaey's sheep are missing, and believed to have been driven away, from the Wairoa by the enemy, and some cattle belonging to him have shared a like fate. Te Kooti I believe to be somewhat nearer than mentioned —his force, comprising about 335 foot, and about 100 mounted. I forget the name of the river on which he is at present located. He has given out that it is not his intention at present to attack Te Papa, as we are too strong for him, too well prepared indeed, the Rosario being in harbor; but that he intends proceeding to Te Hira at OhinemurL This may be a ruse on his part. The natives evidently think so, as they are busy mow collecting in their horses, pigs, &s., from the neighborhood of the Wairoa and other outHsettlenients. However, should he venture to approach this place he may calculate on a warm reception. Every precaution having been taken by the authorities, everyone is on the alert. The publichouses remain closed, and the wholesale houses are prohibited from selling intoxicating liquor. Indeed it would seem that we are now subject to martial law, or something very like it. The duties have become irksome and fagging. One poor fellow of the militia, of excellent character, fell asleep on his post lastnight; he,like many others, had been on three successive nights and was completely fagged out, He will be tried by court-martial. He is sympathised with by everyone, as being one of the few who escaped from the massacre at Opepe, being, as before stated, of good character, never known to be otherwise than sober and industrious, and in every respect a smart and serviceable youth. It is to !ba hoped he will be mercifully dealt I with, The Rosario will remove from her present anchorage to that opposite the township on Monday this is most desirable in the present emergency, and Captain Palmer will enjoy the grateful thanks of the community. 7 p.m. Her Majesty's ship Blanche has just arrived. It is said a messenger has just come iu from Te Kooti. I have not time to learn the particulars, Jan. 19. A native came in yesterday from [Whakamara, and reports that 50 of

Te Kootft; mounted men who were at Okauwhea had gone on yesterday to Mataraata, on the Thames, Last evening (18th) news arrived from Maketu that about 70 of Te Kooti's people had attacked apa at Ohiuemutu, Koturua, killing one man and taking two prisoners. The militiaman mentioned in my last as having slept on duty, has been sentenced to 42 days' imprisonment. Jan. 20, 5 p.m. I have no reliable information as to Te Kooti's movements. (Prom a Correspondent of the Evening News.) Jan. 20, 1870. There is no signX an attack as yet; Te Kooti is still supposed to be in the \icinity of Papatere. No relaxation of duty is allowed. The chief Ranapia has been placed on pay with a party to watch the Hireni Ford, at 2s a day. The Defence Minister iuspected the troops yesterday on the Monmouth Field camp ground. HM. Bosario left here to join the Flying Squadron on Sunday. Patrols and scouts are out on duty every morning at 3 a.m. A strong friendly Maori force is organised, and apparently do their duty well. A meeting was held at the Tauranga Hotel to form a Volunteer Corps, and appoint officers. Messrs J. A. Chadwiek, Turner, and F. George wore respectively proposed, but nothing definite was agreed upon. The Sturt. Blanche, and Government survey schooner Edith are lying here. / Although our military force is largely increased, duty remains severe. Watch or signal fires are strongly observable nightly, not only on the Waikato frontier, Pataere, but also in the more immediate neighborhood of Kaiinai. LATEST FfIOJVI OHINEMURI. VISIT OF MB PUCKEY. —TE HIBA AJJD TE KOOTI. [Prom the Thames Advertiser, 22nd Januar}\] A few days ago we stated that Mr Puckey had gone up to Ohinemuri, with the view of seeing how matters Btuod there, and we have ascertained several particulars of his visit, which ;,re interesting at this time. Mr Puckey left Shortland on Wednesday morning, and reached Ohinemuri nbwut noon. Piapata was at work .»u a cultivation at some distance above Ohinemuri, and Mr Puckey, on going up lie river had to pass Te Hira's house. That chief asked who the pakeba was, and on being informed directed that he should be asked to come and see him. Mr Puckey went and Te Hira appeared to be very glad to see him, and to ha-e an opportu nity of conversing with him. Te Hira said that he was very much grieved at it haviug been represented that he had invited Te Kooti to come to Ohine muri; the rumor was, he said entirely without foundation, and he was then on the point of starting for Ohineroa to hold a meeting with the natives cf the Ngatihaua tribe, with the view of prevailing on Te Kooti to_ remain quietly in the district where he had been told to remain by the King. The meeting was to have taken place on the 10th February, but Te Hira intended to start at once, as he was very anxious that he might send word to Te Kooti to remain quiet. Te Hira said most positively to Mr Puckey that Te Kooti would not come to Ohinemuri, and that there was no occasion for any alarm. Mr Puckey informed Te Hira that no doubt tin rumor as to his having invited Te Kooti originated in the first place from a letter purporting to have been written by him to Te Kooti having been intercepted some months ago near Taupo, and' also from the fact of his encouraging Timoti to visit Ohinemuri from time to time. (We may state that Timoti is a medium of communication between Te Hira and Te Kooti.) Te Hira denied having written the letter in question, and said that Timoti did not come there to visit hira, but to visit some of his other friends, —members of his own tribe .—who were living in the neighborhood of Ohinemuri. A good deai of further conversation, we understand, took place between Mr Puckey and Te Hira. Mr Puckey subsequently saw Eapata, who told him ihftt although Te Hira and the Hau-

hau party were so certain that Te Ivooti would visit Ohinemuri, he for his part was not quite so sure about it, as, iu case of Te Kooti's god telling, him to come to Ohinemuri, which he; might at any time, he was quite sure that nothing would prevent him coming. Moreover, Tiinoti had asked him how long it would take a party on horseback to come from Tapapa to Ohinemuri, and seemed gratified when it was told,that the distance could be accomplished in a day. Mr Puckey returned to Shortlaud on Thursday moraing. THE OPENING ITP OP OHItfEMUEI. —MEETINGS OP MINEHS. The New Zealand Herald, Jan. 24 says:—We see by our correspondent's letter that a large meeting, attended by upwards of 3000 persons, was held at Shortland on Saturday last, 22nd inst., in Mr Graham's paddock, at which it was proposed to proceed en masse to the Upper Thames and open the Ohinemuri field, whether Te Hira was willing or not. It was resolved that a body of 700 men should procee J to the Upper Thames, and anus and ammunition were in large demand, and also boats to convey the party up the river. We would seriously caution the miners at the Thames to consider whether they are acting rightly in complicating the position of the Government, and the safety perhaps of many families in the Waikato, by taking such a stop in the present critical state of native affairs. The New Zealand Herald, of the 25th instant, says : —Eelieciion has brought to the miners at the Thames a sense of the folly of the course pursued by the meeting of Saturday. We are glad of this, as much for the credit of the gold field as for the actual fact, and that the colony is saved from the serious consequences which must have resulted from such a step. A second meeting of the miners was held yesterday, in Graham's paddock, when not more than fifty persons were fuund willing to "rush" Ohinemuri, and plunge the Colony into disaster, it was resolved to give the Government " another chance," as a person present expressed it; and as the Government is quite as anxions as the miners are that Ohinemuri should be opened, and have been all along working steadily with t'liat end in view, the miners will scarcely have to complain of want oi diligence on the part of the authorities. We°have, indeed, heard on good authority that it has been stated by a member of the Government thai a portion of the field at Ohinemuri would be thrown open in a few days. We would seriously advise those persons who are anxious for the opening up of Ohinemuri, not to complicate the position of the Government by such meetings as those of Saturday last. Nobody ever believed that any number of men would be found to form the " forlorn hope " when it came to the scratch, but'that such " forlorn hope," ii'formed and started, would very socn be found back again in Shortland. Such talk as was indulged in on Saturday can only make those natives disinclined to open the field more ob stinate in their determination.