THE NATIVE DIFFICULTY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 251, 21 October 1881, Page 4

THE NATIVE DIFFICULTY.

la connection with the anticipated move on Parihakn, the following extract from Col. Reader's report^'li explaiiMho pre=enr (lcr en ?ive condition of t»:e Plains in tho immediate vicinity ofTe Whiti's sf-ttlement :—"Lieuten-ant-Colonel Roberts's principal camps are Pungarc-lm, Raliotu, Egmont, Upunake, and Manaia. Pnngnrchu is situated about \-k miles from Paribaka is naturally si fafr!y-stron«r position on which HiQ men of Mjyor take's division are encamped. Temporary breastworks have been erected, and the position is about to be strengthed by the addition of a blockhouse. Rahotu, ■where Major Goring's division is encamped, o miles south of Pnngarehn, is on the site of an old native fortification, a position naturally so strong as hardly to require the additional defensive works in course of construction. The Egmont post, three miles west of Pungarehu, was established for the protection of the lighthouse, being erected on the Cape, and consists of a small stone redoubt close to the lighthouse site, and a main camp, enclosed in a substantial palisading, erected on the banks of the Kapoaiaia Stream, about 200 yards from the lighthouse. Opnnake, the head-quarters of the district, has a redoubt capable of accommodating 100 men, if necessary, but could be held by a handful of men occupying the bulletproof loop hole block-house recently erected at one of the angles. This redoubt was built by Major Tuke in 1879 in the short space of three weeks, and was pronounced by Colonel Scrarchley as a most creditable defensive work. At Manaia, the new position on the Waimate Plains, a redoubt of 80 feet square, inside measurement, has been erected on the site of an old Maori pa, To Taheke. It has accommodation for 80, and, like Opunake, by means of its blockhouse, a very few men could hjOld the position, if tbe main body were required to take the field. '1 his redoubt was planned and built by Captain Gudgeon, and reflects great credit on that officer. I have twice visited the whole of these posts within the past four months, and cannot speak too highly of the order in which they are kept, the discipline maintained, and the soldierlike bearing of the men, showing that, though they have been largely employed in road-making and the construction of useful works, Lieut-Colonel Roberts has not allowed drill to be neglected. From his report I find that considerable attention has also been paid to targetpractice, with most satisfactory results. In the camp every precaution has been taken in posting guards and pickets of such strength as to insure their safety, and especially guarding against being lulled into a false state of security by the apparently quiet aspect of affairs. Armed covering parties, in charge of officers from each camp, have always been sent out, for the protection of tbe men working on the roads."

A new waltz has made its appearance this season in London which has quite taken the place of the old. It is merely a little pause in this otherwise simple movement, which puts the difficulty into it and gives it its charm. False ears are the new 'fashionable adjunct 'in Paris, and have already been noticed in the London drawing-rooms. They are described as -pearly' and 'shell-like.' The hair is allowed to cover the ugly things made by Dature. The prevailing style for the present season ia to have the bair arranged in flat wavy curls all over the head, the greatest mass or fulness being on the top, and in the front ; this snits the most fashiot able French bonnetß, and •without donbt adds greatly to a yonthfnl appearance. — English Fashion Paper, -One of the eensatioDal pictures in the Salon waa Heil's ' Un Suicide par Amour,' in which a Parisian girl in pink silk, a profusion of lace, flesh-coloured stockings, and satin slippers, has placed herself across the track of an approaching locomotive. Her head is on the rail. A red umbrella and pair of gloves are thrown aside. Her Majesty, on August 25th, reviewed the Scottish Volunteers in Queen's Park, Edinburgh. There were present under arrai three divisions of 12,901 14,108, and 13,615, making a total of 40,624, under the command of Major General Mac Donald. The review was greatly marred by the weather. The day was fine until one o'clock, when rain began to fall, and continued withont intermission during the rest of the day. The ground was in a wretched state owing to the heavy rains, but the Volunteers generally presented a. soldierly appearance, andmarched past very steadily. The Queen, who looked extremely well, had an enthusiastic reception, whfch she graciously acknowledged. The spectators on the hill numbered nearly 400,000. A landlord named Mr T Hartnell, who is also a justice of the peace, residing at Curryglass, county Cork, is at present completely "Boycotted" in consequence of his having evicted some tenants on his property at Abbeyfield, county Limerick. Four police men guard' him night aud day, and two policemen drive about the country with him in his car. AH the men in his employ have left him, with the exception cf one man, aud he has been guaried by two policemen while performing his duty on the farm. The men were competed to' leave the employment in consequence of threatening notices signed "Rory" ha?ing been posted on the doors of their dwelling houses. The shopkeepers also refuse to sell provisions to Mr HaTtnell, and the local blacksmith refuses to work for him. It is thought that the emergency men will be brought to save the crops