THE NATIVES AND THE LAW.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 1, Issue 49, 9 December 1867, Page 303

THE NATIVES AND THE LAW.

’ 'A JOURNEY TO THE WAIMATE' 1 plains. ; ; ; ; (From the Taranaki Herald, 23rd November.) ' We have-been favored by Major C. Brown, 1 who accompanied the Commissioner of: Customs'. the Superintendent, andMr Parris in. their recent journey down the. coast, with a rnarratiye: of ; his expedition, from ' which we have compiled the following • : The party left town on the morning of Friday, Bth inst., and arrived at Wares, , where they slept, the same evening. On 1 Saturday they 1 proceeded to the Opunalce Redoubt, which wdß reached about three o’clock. Shortly after their arrival, a good many of the friendly natives belonging to Wm. King’s people collected to meet the hon. J. C. Richmond and'Mr Parris, and to talk about their land. A block of about 50,000 acres, being about ten miles in width on the coast, and stretching back to the mountain, has been returned to these 1 natives by the Government as compensa- . tion for the taking of their lands. Out of this, however, a large township—3,ooo ; acres in extent—has been laid off for Go* 1 vernment purposes; and the natives, who 1 consider that their ancestral lands are in* L eluded in this block, wanted to know what . land they were to have, as they could not • ask the owners of the rest of the block to i give them a part of their inheritance. Mr Parris explained to them that it was not - by inheritance at all that this land was ' held, but as a free gift from the Governor, _ and it was given to all the friendly natives ' in this district alifep, no matter where their ancestral lands might be. The natives here . seem fully to understand that the lands have been taken by the Government, and > show no disposition to oppose the confisca* } tion. There are altogether about two bun* , dred friendlies whose claims will be settled } in this block. .

On Sunday afternoon Mr Brown and Mr Parris went on to the Kauwai, where they slept; and on Monday Mr Brown proceeded to Mawhitiwhiti, the place' of the Umutahi tribe, about ten miles inland of Waimate. While here,' r he received a visit from an old acquaintance named Reweti, who belongs himself to'the Umutahi, but has married into the Ahitahi hapu, a number of whom are still .nominally in rebellion —that is to say, they have not sent in their submission—but appear to have given up all idea of active resistance. Reweti admitted that Umutahi, had .lost ten men during the war,.but Mr Brown could himself remember fifteen who were not now fco be seen,. which is a very heavy loss 'o^o'fV'hap^mot^'rium^Mongj^rior 6 thaii forty fighting men. The effect of the war has been such as to reduce these natives to a state of demoralisatipn, such as Mr Brown never knew to exist among them in former times, and which will very soon put an end to them if no means are found to diminish it. The natives are taking to drink, which they can readily obtain from certain unlicensed houses on the coast. This dis-

trict appears now to be quite abandoned 1 by the missionaries, though now, if ever, t there is a chance for a useful display of c those indomitable energies of which we { have heard so much. There is one fact t worth mentioning, as a good sign as far as e peace is concerned—the people ' here sav I that in future each man must be responsi- ] ble for his own deeds, and several tribes { have determined not to shield anyone who ( breaks the laws. ]

During the conversation with Rewiti, that chief asked whether England was at j war with any foreign power. Mr Brown - said “ no,” ,'and inquired his reason for j asking. Rewiti referred to the fact of the i troops being removed from the colony. 1 Mr Brown replied to him that the reason < of their Temoval was the the colonists ] were required to pay for the. troops, and i they thought the militia could do all that i was necessary. Te Pumipi then got up - and made a speech, in which he referred [ to his submission, and stated that after the j attack made on Pungarehu by Major j M’Donnell, in which the tribe suffered ] severely, he thought it was time to submit, , in order to save the remainder. He spoke : highly of the kinduess-with which the tribe ; had been treated by. the Government, the war having left them without provisions or resources of any kind. The proceedings : here terminated with the presentation of a handsome kaitaka to Mr Brown, by Te Rangihekeiho. . On Tuesday'morning, as Mr Brown was ! returning to Opunake, he. met with Mr i Parris again, when Piripi, a leading Warea i native, still nominally in rebellion, told i him that the n atiyes had not been fighting > about Waitara or any other question, but i that they had ih fact been fighting for the i mastery. . j ' . On Tuesday night they got back to Opu- • hake. The .friendly natives here; who have j been acting as a garrison' for, the redoubt, i and! received arms for’that purpose, inl formed. Mr Parris that they, now !wished to 3 give back their as there was noi longer l any heed for. them. Mr Parris aocprdingly f the gons'and ammunii'lionlbaok v !tp!' town, ;:.'and'!‘two-'drays!! were i them. Mr Pairris epid he 1 would;Bteyaudaccpmpahytheßodrajß,in 1 casqj-Spif; •?anything;; : happehirig, : and ' Mr % Brown went witli him. No difficulty, l . several mobVof the reputed rebels ou the I r6ad, and one-lot- at all ’ events ' knew what i was under oonvoy tb town, as one of them r; hhve -yet .. they have not aotuallytgiTen in their sub-

mission, and do not intend to do so until nextmonth, beoause they say the Atna has‘fixed that timie for it. : In connection with the arins entrusted to the friendlies, 'mentioning , that, on the way d6wii, 6he of the Opunake garrison showed the Hon.'J. C. Richmond a* register—kept in - one of the Lord Worsley’s cargo hooks —in' which was kept .an- exact account 1 : of every cap and cartridge expended from the nuihber originally handed over. ' On Wednesday evening the party arrived at Warea, and early next: morning got safely in town.