OUR NATIVE ALLIES.

New Zealander, Volume 2, Issue 86, 23 January 1847, Page 2

OUR NATIVE ALLIES.

The following is a translation of two Maori letters that hare lately passed between Ran* gihaeata and our neighbours, the Waikato Chiefs, on the subject of the imprisonment of le Rauparaha." Rangihaeata's epistle is dated 4th December, and reads thus—- " Go my letter to the North, to ray people, to the NgatimanJapoto, to Waikato,to all the tribes. Friends, relations, How do you do? Friends, relations, come here and revenge the death of Te Rauparaha, because Te Rauparaha was the eye (the beginning of the religion) of all-men. To (i. c., my letter is to) Waitnra, to Ngatapa, to Te Pakaru, to Te Rangituatea, to Pehi, to Ngamotu, to Te Waru, to Te Roto, to Te Kanawa, to Muriwhenua, to Te Awaitaia, to Kukutai, to Kaihau, to Potatau (Te Wherowhero.) "Relations, who knows ? Who can divine ? (meaning, who can tell whether the Government will continue to treat you kindly). Friends, make haste and come in the days of December. " This letter is by me, Te Rangih*eata> and by Te Wawarua, and by Te Tawiri." THE REPLY "READS THUS— "KatuJiia, Dec. 28, 1.846. 1 " Friends, .Te Rangihaeata, Te Wawarua, Te Tawiri, your letter has arrived, wishing us to go and revenge the death of Te Rauparaha. It is not good to us to go. Your error (or sin) is your own, as John Heki's error was hia own. You say that Te Rauparaha was the eye of religion— Kahore ; how so, seeing his conduct is wrong? Truly he is the eye of falsehood and deceit. The deceit of you two towards the Pakeha is your own, (meaning, you have followed your own course, and must be responsible for your own tots). You two thought you should be able to destroy the Pakehas, but do ydu suppose you can dry Up the sea ? You are just as able to destroy the Pakehas. The Pakehas are not to be cut off by all of us, not by all the Maories ; on the contrary, the Maories will be exterminated if they persevere against the Pakehas. We, therefore, say, o«ase'to fight against the Pakeha— make haste and be reconciled, that you may live, and your children. For evil, let those men suffice who are already dead. We shall not rebel against the Pakeha, because the Pakeha is the " eye o/religion," and the Pakeha is the eye of the kingdom for us here, (meaning the. white man is the cause or source of wealth and re spectability to us). We. shall not go to revenge the

death of Te Rauparaha, he has ever been a man of evil speech ; his sin is his- own, his deception his own, and we shall not follow his example, O Rangi, O Para, OTe Karamu. Our intentions are the same as those of Te Wherewhero, and Kate, and Walker, and Horeta. We are sticking close and constantly to the Governor, and to our minister, Mr. Whiteley. Friends, do you turn to the Gospel, and to everlasting life for yourselves. If you wont listen, and wont believe, and wont make peace with the Pakeha, and with God also ; then, be strong >to pursue your own way, (this is irony). Be strong to fight against God, for you are His enemies^ and He, God, will destroy you in the fire and brimstone of hell.. "Bj Newton, Te Pakaru, By Ngamotuj By Te Waru, By Te Kanawa. "P. S. We have to say that the thoughts of all the. ' Chiefs to wHom your letter was addressed, are the same* as ours. These" ate the views of Waitara, ofNgatapa, of Te Rangituatea, of Pehi, of Te Roto, of Paul(Muriwhenua), of William Naylor (Te Awaitaia), of Kukutai, of Kaihau, of Te Wherowhero, of all."

, The letter of these friendly chiefs, is an im--.portant document, and should make the settlers 'in this neighbourhood proud of their position*, and thankful to provid ence for the defence thud* thrown around us by the native chiefs in thesurrounding districts. These men, areundoubT;* edly to be ranked amongst the most powerful*, and influential chiefs of these Islands, and U\> point of numbers and valour, they are able tos compete with any other native power, thatNew> Zealand could produce. They are the representatives of the Ngat'manipoto and Ngatimahuta tribes, the two great divisions of the Waikat<v Their territories extend from Mokau to Matm-, kau on the western coast, and they are intimately connected with the natives in the interior, up the Waipa, across! to Maungatautari, and as far as Maiaiiidta. Our neighboursthe Ngatipaoa, are also included, their chief being named in the letter of the Kawhia chiefs, who regard him as one with them, which he undoubtedly is j and so long as we maintain the friendly feeling now existing between ourselves and these tribes, we are safe, so far as a native* war i 6 concerned. The spirit of their letter is noble, and their views are expressed in most decisive language. They evidently are convinced that to oppose, and quarrel with the Pakeha, would r first, be useless, a* they might a» well, think of, " drying up the sea," as exterminating them ; and, second, they seem to feel that the Pakeha is necessary to their prosperity as a people. He w " the eye of a kingdom for them j" the source of wealth and , respectability } and will not this feeling, to poweiful in its influence on the human mind, operate to our safety and advantage ? There is another light in which this letter should be viewed. Many fears have been expressed about the removal of the seat of government, but with such a body of powerful and influential chiefs rallying round our governor, telling his enemies that they are one with him, and are sticking close and constantly to him ; the idea cannot for one moment be seriously entertained. Can. Wellington boast of such, harmony as this? And would ' it not be injustice to forsake our loyal friends now they have become so firmly attached to us t would they not consider themselves ill requited for the lupport they have given us J and feelthat loyalty, and obedience, has no reward, since the rebellious districts are preferred before theirs f His Excellency must feel that these chiefs and their numerous tribes-have claims that the.southern chiefs have not $ and he must also feel encouraged and supported amid his difficulties by such an expression o f friendship from such an, influential body of- men. Only let us be' united in our endeavours to promote and perpetuate this amicable feeling with the neighbouring tribes ; let us treat them like men, and use any influence we may have in disabusing their minds in reference to the intentions of the .Government towards them, and let us rally round His ExceM lency and support, and aid him in carrying out the wise and judicious measures he has- devised for raising the Colony out of its difficulties. And the day that has already dawned, will continue to brighten, till peace dwells in all our borders, and prosperity in all our palaces. '

Congratulatory Address to Hrs Excellency tub Govbiinok.— »We understand it is intended to" take advantage of the Anniversary of the Foundation of the Colony, as being a fitting and appropriate occasion, to present an Address to His Excellency, congratulatory of the improving condition of the country under his administration. — It is intended, also, to embody in the address a refutation of the calumnies which* have, of late, .been systematically made against the settlers in the Northern part of the colony, in the pages' of that vera • cious publication the London New Zealand Journal^ Having hitherto failed in their attempts to ruin Auckland, by the means previously resorted to— too well known to us all— in the unblushing publication of the most wilful falsehoods and defamatory statements against the settlement, the baser attempt is now being made to effect the same purpose by traducing the settlers, who are gravely accused of wilfully endeavouring to incite the Natives to rebellion ; insinuating that Commissariat expenditure is a very nice thing ; and ingeniously and insidiously coming to the conclusion that the capital cannot be allowed to remain in the centre of a population where it is exposed to the dangers arising from' such evil influences. We can assure our very considej rate friend the New Zealand Journal, of mendacious notoriety, that we are in a much too prosperous condition to be benefited, by a war. Of the advantage of the pickings of the Rangiahaeta war to the Wellington settlers, we will say, nothing, knowing it is a matter upon which they feel i Very acutely. "We »re unable 10 lay the Address before our readers this week, but it will be printed and generally circulated in the beginning of next, so that every one may have an opportunity of per* using it before being called on to affix his signature thereto. ' Native Honor.— As any evil deeds of our aboriginal friends are generally trumpeted forth, with a due quantum of exaggeration, we think, when instances of' an opposite nature occur, it is but fair to give due publicity to the plain facts; and it becomes our pleasing duty to record the late honorable behaviour of certain of the Makatu natives. Our readers may remember haying heard of a vessel belonging to Mr. Hqdgkirison having gone ashore at Makatu, on which occasion, adhering to old customs, the natives stripped and pillaged her. Upon .being applied to by the Native Seoretary, to render compentition for the injury inflicted, it wat agreed by all parties, that the matter should be left to the arbi-, tration of Fercival Berry, Esq., Commissioner of the | Court of Requests, who adjudged the natives, to pay the sum of twenty-four pounds within three months, ,which award they consented to, and granted their promissory note for the amount. The bill falling due this week,

Ihe natives arrived in town with a quantity of flax, which they sold, handing the proceeds to the amount of seventeen pounds, over to Mr. Berry, who, on receiving it, remarked to them that however glad he was to punctually receive from them that sum, still it was customary, and considered as a matter of honor with us, always to retire a hill to full amount on its becoming due, and expected them to do the same. The natives hltd hoped to hnve taken home with them some blankets and tobacco from the sale of a few pigs which they had also brought with them, however they denied themselves these, sold their pigft. and paid Mr. Berry the balance one day before the bill became due. Kiavara. — Free Trade completely re-estab-lished.— We understand a flourishing trade in tobacco, spirits, and timber, is being simultaneously carried on, with great vigour, at this port. Vessels, not imaginary "Flying Dutchmen," but veritable "Flying Fish," and other "fry" besides, we doubt not, are getting, along swimmingly ! We can only hope the settlers there will not "have other fish to fry" soon ; but we foar they may, k ibr we hear they are " sparring and falling" out with each other, or the Natives, in such a way as will preclude them from "squaring" up matters without "haul* ing" before a Magistrate, the want of whoso presence is beginning to be felt by the respectable residents there, and— the Custom House here ! Land Claims' CouRT.-»-It has been represented to US, that the facility of investigating the claims in Major Matson's Court, might be most materially increased, more especially to the Claimants themselves, by the cases being classified, not according to the Number of the pre-emption certificate, or the whole of one individual's claims being gone through before entering upon those of a second, but by investigating all the claims, whether of one or dillerent parties, where the same Natives and witnesses are required. By the present mode the same Natives will require to be brought forward every other wpek or month, which may not be objectionable to them, for in all such cases they will take good care to be well paid for their attendance, as they were in the "Old Land Claimants" time. But there may be difficulty, even for payment, in procuring their testimony, for their presence may be required at their harvest time, or when putting in their _ crops ; therefore we think the idea thrown out of taking advantage of their presence in the proving as many separate claims as possible, where the same Natives- are required, is a good ono, and hope for the Claimants' sake, it will receive fair consideration, which we know it will, from the Commissioner. Government Land Sale, — According to an announcement in the Government Gazette of the 30th December last, a Land Sale will take place on Thursday next, 28th instant There are advertised for sale:— 12 Town Lots, upset price £100 per acre j 8 Suburban Lots, upset price £1 Is. per acre ; and 8 Country Lots, upset price £1 per acre. Also, — Yearly Lenses of one Town Lot, upset price £1 per annum ; and 33 Country Lots, upset price £ 10 per annum.