POVERTY BAY.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 102, 14 December 1868, Page 301

POVERTY BAY.

[PEOM OUR own CORRESPONDENT.! Camp, Whakahu,- - Saturday, sth Dec. r ; The accounts we daily receive from the Front are of a strangely conflicting character. First, a Maori messenger will arrive with good news—• everything at the Frbnt, he says; is kapai, kanui pai; the - Hauhaus -are surrounded, and a certain numberkilledanother follows with news~. of much the same-’ kind, hut different', in all its details : - while-the account* of a third is bad, and cannot ; b'e re - conciled with that off either of therials I have to select those which, seem the" most credible;* as alhnati ve accounts are more 1 or less exaggerated. ' '--1 •. i".. .-...J

Yesterday *aftera"odn~ ; Captam*Fox; left us, to take charge] I believe,' of the Armstrong ; *gUns -at * Wairoa. His departure is much regretted, as during his stay he -has "gained thA respect and esteem of all im the’ camp. .. ni:.-: .. .v. • : ixss

; Last night a native arrived from* the Front, confirmidg. -the hews of* the Hauhair defeat; 1 - and-bringing* farther particulars:-- --He' states' that J sixty Haubau -bodies l 'have "been 1 found-— : I heard him* givihg the ad* : ' coimt-j- and counting- the-numbers ort f his figures—-e 1 toro tekau nia 'rima-XDf' one pi ace, : ' and e rua -tekau nict Yimcc. in* another; but 1 lam stiff inclined to. believe that* the number I gave" originally—twenty-four—is nearer- 7 the truth; *- *•-. 1 >

He also 'reports"" that party; of ; Ngatipordus had been stiff'’ farther 1 huriibers' of" natives who have so long drawn' G-o-Yemment' rations:and, ammunition having:* been found "wanting when most required; — r - * j

'. At our little camp, when the men fall in,' the number. of friendly natiYes present is only- about half* what : it is;when the time for kai aiiives. They "s§em to passrtheir time in-; riding all" the -horses they can catch ' over ;the flat at a frahiic'gallbpV'' If ; they were suddenly ordered to theFront soarcely one of- these unfqij-.r; furnt©' brutes would bd fit for-the *-!. journey. This'state of things should- 1 nqf.be", allowed.; j for, unless . kept .in' order "and 4 under strict discipline/ ’ friendly natives are worse than use* less. " - * .

r -This morning early I heard that

thejEJaribaus, last,' is at the sum: :riutrif a stejep cbnical hiil—steep -that only one side is aecessihle—ahd that thit oiie path : is occupied -,b'v Rapatri; . If yhat is reported! of this 'chief; be' tru'e; he.; certainly; deserves ‘every credit." *' Deserted by.

' the'Ngatikahiinguhuj; by all of his r .‘except' fifty or seventy ‘(heriburitsvary),' 1 short'of ammunition!; fte'bravely kebps his men together,

and holds the only avenue by :: wliich tlie escape. ■' night the Hriufiaus made a desperate rush on their "besiegers, hilling a man named; Kamara, and wounding six; but were driven bach,- leaving seven dead, on the ■fields arid * Bapata' in possession of their-trenches. " Fifteen yards only, I' believe,! intervene between the . .. ." ; / iLt .twb o’cloch. this'.morning a ’ paity of the Napier . Yeomanry CJa/yafty pqsshd this camp with ammu- . jutibn'for .Rapata’s* men.' It is ex'ppcted that to-day will “see the end of the Hauhaus and their chief Te

Kbbti. ■'Wpe to that „ miscreant 1 should he .fsdl.Taiiye into the hands " of the-ftiendly i Noon.-—-Captain Tanner with an-

other, party of the cavalry have gone phto' the. Front. Just as'they were leaving a party of the Armed Cori 'stabnlary arrived, among whom I noticed riot a few familiar faces, 2 p.tiV,—Another messenger has 'arrived, who states that Bapata’s ineri, after waiting till daylight for ammunition., left the trenches; leaving the Hauhaus free to evacuate their position—an opportunity they 'will not be slow to avail themselves of. Bapata arrived at the camp just as the cavalry escort with the

ammunition came up, and, Maori- 1 - like, his men refused to, return, as they were tired.. .; This;news is profoundly irritating —there is little doubt of its truth"; and a second promising opportunity of annihilating Te Kooti and his band of Scoundrels has been thrown awayi

The -Hauhau women and children were sent to Puketapu some days ago, so that there, were only fighting men in the rebel encampment.. . - .Yesterday and to day the rascally Rallies-” who so basely abandoned! the.field, when they had the opportunity of oru siring the enemy, have been .riding past or camping in our neighborhood: It is hard to understand the position 'of these, men. Immense quantities of provisions and ammunition are consumed by them-at the Government expense, and yet no control is exercised over them, and to all intents and purposes they are their own masters. They fire away their ammunition in volleys whenever they think fit ; the track to the Front from one .end to the other is strewn with their cartridge cases-—and when, they do meet the enemy they naturally enough run short of ammunition. If these natives are made use of at all, it should

he; as soldiers; there- should be-a roll; no departures from a camp should take, place without leave, and they should he accountable for ; their' ; ammunition. ; Until a rigid discipline is exercised, over them they will ever be far more trouble than they are worth; and there is no doubt' that the late engagement at the Front owed its 'success to the policy of Lieut, Gascoigneinplacing European spouts - Where, they would be able in ’some measure" to direct the natives, , . Heta, the poor' fellow whom I mentioned yesterday as being so badly x wounded, died while being conveyed to' Turangariui, A Pakeha wiio"; took ,pri. ; him gave - him-V “tot rum; which he drank With; great’relish. It did, riot do him ", any expired a fey minutes afterwards, J; J I ' ere this our . camp'would; have- been removed fribnf:the; .dusty "hill where weriow &xej ! hdtrthfs'' ribt yet"beeri done," On‘ ’is coyered* with lohg t ’grdss, : the dust did riot'"trouble us% hut'here it :ia black" arid aim os t stifling^aridon a •hiot' :^ftlcly^da,y' n ;ii§: tluwis;wve;mighf inistakeii of

a. mile off, and,the bariks: steep arid thickly covered,.with Vcrub.J ~V' .4. and Major Fraser, as the.remaining "portion, of the. Armed Constabulary; Have justi arrived. ' They" start for the Frorit almost immediately, and I intend accompanyingthem. , 6 p.m.—l .write now ftoiri%camping ground on the-hanks of .the Whakahu', four of five miles nearer the Front than the : camp I .left. The Armed Constabulary stay here for the night. "All:the natives we have met on our, way* up state that the Hauhaus have taken to the bush.

The spot where we stay is quite a roiriantid one—a clearing in the bush, surrounded by tall trees abounding in native birds, , 'Unfortunately, however, it also abounds in mosquitos and / ... 6th Dec. 10 am.—Lieut. Gascoigne has just arrived here from the' Front, and natives continue to'pass us on their way to the. port.; Many of them carry two rifles slung-at their backs, and I Hear .that they consider they have aft" undoubted right to the stores and ammunition recovered from the rebels.

I hear on good authority that Henare Tokomoana and his men fought well m the late engagement—so that some of the Ahuriri natives behaved creditably. It was neither Henare nor Manama who was wounded in the shoulders, butanofcher large chief, whose name I have not ascertained. I ha~e seen Manama—he looks as jolly as ever; but' his fair proportions are somewhat reduced, The number of the enemy killed is sixty, of whom thirty-one were killed in a two -ho urs’ engagement. Our loss in killed is ten. These particulars show that the'news brought by friendly natives., though partially correct, cannot be fully relied on.

The quai-rel which I have already described arose partly from-a Maori superstition that 'it is unlucky when a party begin to fight with the intention of giving no quarter, to break through that rule. The friendly natives began fighting with this determination, and when some of them proposed to save those , who had fallen into their hands, the more superstitious opposed them, on the ground that inevitable defeat would follow- such a course This, howe .*er, is veiy possibly a . convenient M aori excuse.

Thp number of prisoners taken is three.; one is an idiot, and it is. a matter of doubt whether another is a Hauhau or one of Te Kooti’s prisoners. Their lives have as yet been spared.

Te Kooti and his people, to the number of about a hundred, were, by latest accounts, still encamped in their last position—the summit of a conical hill, described as being fairly honey-combed with rifle-pits. Many of them, however, had’ taken to the bush, and the .others are not expected to remain very long. Therefore,.to be of any real use, the Constabulary should he on the spot with as little delay; as possible. Scouts are now out, and the men are resting after their late fatigues, until further information arrives. Col. "Whitmore, Major Fraser, and the other .officers ai'e on the spot, and ready to take whatever action appears the best, This spot is one in which the murderers camped after their expedition to Matawhero,*.. Great lumps of decaying beef He about the camp, the remains of some unfortunate settler’s fat bullock; and I noticed pieces of a photographic album, - and other traces of the plunder they carried with'them. Close by, on the bank of the creek, the knee-bones of a buriedMaoriprojectftom the ground, and in -the clearing are several mounds, suspiciously like graves. . . Bapata, the Ngatiporou chief, with three df his men, arr.ved to-day, and was : greeted by, the Constabulary with tiiree lusty cheers. y . '

; . A.Hgatiporou native, - riairied Hejrii, whq has been;>vahdbring.,in the Jtmsh for over tyro days* turned up this - afternoon, riared , .and - hungry, He says frhat the.llauhaus are in the bush. If this is and they have scattered; themselves, it: woftld: be almost usejes§, to,. follq>v .them ; :,but we do not yet certainly, know, . .V Jhree wqunded uQ,en.;amved. frorii this aftewidon, . Howard!

meritioried before^; ard is wounded, in the arm..; Lake’s is a terrible wound, ; through the head, the bullet, having entered at the right ear, and -.passed out nearly close tinder- the left eye/> The third is a Maori named Eruera, dangerously wounded through the side., and back,'the ball having passed through one of the kidneys.

Monday, 7th Dec. - . This afternoon the order to march was given, and the camp was removed some/ten miles nearer, the Front. About a mile of the track lay through dense bush ; but it was well-defined —the hundreds of horsemen who have passed, up and down the. last fortnight having given it almost ..the appearance of a road. This was followed-by precipitous hills, such as those ' who have travelled between Napier . and Mohaka before the .Government road was made may form some idea of. After crossing these and intervening’gullies, the track led up . a long valley, in which a halt was called, arid tea being disposed of, we camped under cover of a manuka scrub.

I have, heard no news of the Hauhaus during the day., Tuesday, Bth Dec.

This morning, as soon as breakfast was - over, the men were again on the march—-this time back again over the hills we crossed yesterday, a course -which created dissatisfaction among some of the men. The object of this, however, was evident, the enemy being again invisible; in which case it would have been folly to take men any further into a rough country, where they would be doing Httle good, and; to which provisions would have to be carried at enormous expense. A halt was made at Patutahi, a place about a mile below the old Whakahu camp, and where the gun has been taken. Here under some five cr six willows, the men prepared and enjoyed their dinner, and many betook themsehes to the meek,, to wash away the dust which had accumulated upon them during the march. After an hour’ or two the march was resumed, So far, the men had come in single file, the only order in which travelling was practicable, but here they formed fours and marched to Makaraka, where thej camped. * * Makaraka, Wednesday, 9th Dec..

To-day the Government paddock in which . the men are encamped was partly cleared for a parade ground, arid I beHeve the forces are

to stay here until further orders. As there are now no further operations in the interior to chronicle, I intend , returning, to Napier tor a time by the next steamer, and can only conclude by acknowledging the facilities afforded me for obtaining information by both officers and men with whom I have come in contact.