Tuesday, August 24th,

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 129, 25 August 1847, Page 2

Tuesday, August 24th,

Present—His Excellency the Governor, and five Members. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. Mr. Brown rose to request, on behalf of certain land claimants, that his Excellency would lay on the table the entire despatch from Earl Grey, on the subject of lands purchased from the natives, as well as copies of his Excellency* despatches on the same subject, forwarded to the Colonial office, shortly after bis arrival in the colony. He made this request in order that those claimants who hud purchused lurge tracts of land for depasturing cattle, and who now found that fIOO acres were insufficient for that purpose, might know all that Lord Grey had said, and so be enabled to judge whether to accept of his terms, or those offered by his Excellency. The Governor said tbat he could assure thehon. member that there was nothing whatever in Earl Grey's despatch relative to the information required, that had not been already published -, anything that had been kept back related to individuals, and which perhaps would not bewise to publish. The subject to which the hou. member had referred was one of great importance, and one which he (the Governor) had not overlooked. Ou referring to the instructions accompanying the New Charter, the hon. member would find that the Governor had power given him to make regulations for the depasturing of cattle. Now he would be very glad to hear suggested, what kind of regulations the Council would consider best, or he would be happy to have the suggestions of men engaged m grazing pursuits; hi* own idea was to form a liberal cod o of regulations, and to give individjialswho had established their claims to haveu^Rn proper and good, a preference, over other persons } but in all cases, to secure at completely ar|posBibie, nil interests of this kind in the coloi.f.

The Governor laid* on the table the following despatch from H.M. S. Secretary of State for the Colonies, which on the motion of Mr. Brown was read and ordered to be printed.

MILITARY, No. 12. Downing Street, Ist March, 1817. S/R.— 1 hate to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 101, of tbe 6th October lust, in which with reference to a suggestion which has been submitted to you by the Commanding Royal Engineer in New Zealand, that convict mechanics should he sent to that colony with Ihe view of being employed on Military Works and Buildings, you take occasion to recommend that a company of Sappeu and Miners should be detached from this country for the performance of that service. I am aware of the inconvenience which must be felt from the want of Mechanics, and in fact arrangements had been made previously t« the receipt of your communication on the subject, which will in some measure supply that deficiency; care having been taken that in selecting the Military Pensioneis who are enrolled for • service in New Zealand, a selection should be made of about 50 men who have worked as carpenters, sawyers, bricklayers, masons, blacksmiths, painters, glaziers, and miners ; and I have instructed the Master-General of the Ordiiauce to send out a Serjeant and 12 Sappers and Miners, who Horn their superior qualifications vill be able to superintend the labors of the persons in question. The employment of convicts in New Zealand, under the eftect of a general measure of Transportation, would be entirely out of the question ; but it may be deserving of consideration whether {a limited number of men of that class, whose good conduct under confinement may render them lit objects of the Royal clemency, might not be sent to New Zealand with conditional pardons, in which, to tbe oichnary conditions of such instruments, there should be one introduced requiriu the peisons -to whom they should be assigned, to work for be Government for a period of two years. I have to add, that I do not contemplate the maintenance of any consideiable force ot"Regular Troops in New Zealand, for more than a very short time, as when emigration from this country shall be resumed, as 1 t»u>t it soon will be, the encrease of the European population will enable jou to organize a jVlilitia, sufficient Tor all putposes of defence. 1 have, therefore, to itibtiuct jou to abstain from incurring any expense in Ihe erection of permanent Barracks which can possibly be avoided. 1 have, &c., (Signed) Grey. Governor Grey, &c, &c, &c.

The Governor laid on the table the following de»patche« received last Saturday from Wanganui, which on the motion of Mr. Merriman, were read and ordered to be printed. Camp, Wanyauui, July 20th, 1847.

Sir,— l have, the honour to teport to your Excellency, the proceedings of the force under hit command, in action w itli the enemy, jesterday afternoon, extending from our position to St. John's Wood. I acquainted your Excellency, in letters, dated slh, 10th, and 17th inst., despatched by the.Race horse % of the daring manner in which the enemy penetrated into our own eaithen outworks, on more than one occasion ; I therefore decided on at once checking this custom, should an opportunity ofi'er. Yesterday, about 12 o'clock, they approached, evidently with an intention to draw the troops out of the stockade, and two, more daring than the rest, in hopes to cut oft" a settler and some cattle, were pursued by two parties of the 58th under Lieutenant Pedder, and 65th, under En•ign Thelwald * and joined by a further reinforcement of the 58lh Hegt., under Ensign Middleton, the whole under my orders; these two men nauowly escaped capture, and fled by the ravine and intrenchinents, towards Mr. Harrisons, at the back of St. John's Wood, where a body of the rebels lay concealed. This brought on an action with the enemy, and sending back for reinforcements, I indulged a hope that they might be induced to fight on our ground, in front of, and towards our position. After four hours fighting, the enemy declined advancing beyond the cover of their own breastworks, on the face of the hill, which jour Excellency will remember, at St. John's Wood, and which have been multiplied and extended $ a gallant charge was here made with the bayonet, 15 yards distaut, and the enemy bioke and fled, on hearing the cheer by detachments of the 58th and 65th Regiments, under the command of Captain Wolf, of the latter corps } Lieutenant Balneavis commanded that of the 58th Regiment, Lieutenants Page, 58th Regiment, and Barnard, of the 65th Regiment, though previously wounded iv the head, and Ensign Middleton, 68th, and Thelwall, 65th Regiment, were present iv this charge, made at the distance oflfi yards ; the latter officer narrowly escaped being tomahawked by one of the enemy, who was shot by a soldier of the 58th Regiment; some of the .enemy were here bayoneted. We had 400 men engaged, the enemy about 4he same number, but owing to the difficult, broken, and swampy state of the ground übich extends from the right of our position to bt. John's Wood; I was of necessity obliged to place junior officers in command of detachments in extension, under the general superintendence of the neniori, and thu*, protecting our flanks. Captain Hendeiton, Ro\al ArtiHeiy, with the assistance of Lieutenant, the Hououiable W. Telverion pushed foiward a brass 3-pounder, and and a 4 2-sth inch field how itzer, to cannonade the enemy's posiiion, and 1 cannot help drawing attention to the devoled gallantry oi Ibii small body, who from the nature of their service were exposed to the most galling fire, by which they bad one man mortally, and another severely wounded. In the meantime, I had dejtacHed Lientenant Haj, «Btb Regiment, in com-

maud <Sf a party of the 58th and 65 th< Regiments, the latter commanded by Lieutenant M'Coy.and some of the armed police, to endeavour to out* flank the enemy by the left, by which means the enemy's fire was partially diverted from our advanced body j and they were obliged to detach a body against this party, who had pushed across. «i sw amp of some extent, above then' knees in water. Lieutenant Hay was now supported b) Captain Jinrdy, 5Mh Regiment, who, as next iv command, I had left in charge of the post, with disci etionary powers. Captain O'Connell, 65th Regiment, a Peninsular Officer, though in the sick report, from a severe sprain of the ancle, then*volunteered to take command of the stockade, having Lieutenant Traflbrd, Gsth Regiment, to assist him j the party under Lieutenant H*y, joined Captain Hardy without loss, and took up a commanding position, under cover, and prevented the enemy from shewing themselves on our left flank. At the commencement, Unseen by the enemy, I had thrown Lieutenant Pedder, with 20 men, into a breastwork, on the right, and below the upper stockade, and Lieutenant Holmes, R. N., of H. M. S. " Calliope," had, with the same alacrity which be has so often evinced, detached some men to assist iv dragging the guns, and with the remainder, and Mr. Carnegie, Midshipman, of H. M. S. " Calliope," he manned his gun -b'iat, and pushed others forward to the first creek, 150 yards from the lower stockade, and opened a tire of musketry, and from the 12 pound carronade, which checked a party, who, under Mnmuko, were advancing by the banks of the river, this completed the chain of posts that protected oui right flank, and they suffered no loss. The fighting continued with the main body, and I determined, if possible, to draw the enemy down, and with this view, took up a new position with the guns; the enemy, with great intrepidity came down to within 15 jards of the advance, when the charge alluded to, took place j at this lime our piincipal loss occurred, one man of the 58th Regiment (Welter), and another of the 65th Regiment (Spratt), wfiie shot dead iv the high fern, the body ot the former was not recoveied. The artillery here suffered the loss of the services of two of their men, one mortally, (Connolly), and the other slightly wounded, and other gallant men were here wounded, of the 58th and 65th Regiments. With this advance, Lieutenant Servantes, 9itth foot, interpreter to the forces, was present with our 3 Ngatitoa allies, one of whom was wounded in the leg while gallantly fighting* The enemy now seemed disinclined to advance beyond the point where they were charged, the file in their front was heavy from the artillery and musketry, and also on their tight, from the musketry of Captain Hardy's piii ty, and as evening was coming on, I returned to camp. Though I have to deplore the loss of 3 gallant soldiers, and the temporary depiivaiion of the services of 8 others, the enemy have suffered more severely ; we know ot 3 killed, and 10 wounded by their own admission, the former are Te Kapua, Paora te Hotite, and Te Tere Tere, the two first chiefs amongst the wounded, are Jaime, the native teacher, who pursued Mr. Macgregor on the Ist of July, down from Shakespeare's Cliff, Wiiemu Wangauui ; Wiremu te Waruite, and a Ngatimanapnto, who was wounded in fro,.t of Lieutenant Holmes, and Lieutenant Pedder's parties. I have no doubt that their loss far exceeds that of our pie sent information, which is limited to accidental knowledge, but more than three were killed in the charge alone, shot or bayoneted— the natives having an anxiety to conceal then loss j their women were heard last night lamenting their loss at Mr. Harrisons j Paora te Hotite was bayoneted by a soldier of the 58th Regiment, named Lowry, who cariied off his musket. The body of private Welter, of the 68tb Regiment, was found and carried away by the enemy, who read prajers over, and buried him at Aramobo, without degrading mutilation. The Police under Mr. Chatham Strode, were with the advance, vying with H. M. Troops. I cannot conclude this despatch, without the expression of admiral ion of the gallantry ofjhe officers and men engaged ; the daring of the enemy in advancing to within 15 yards of the troops, bears me out in this, and 1 must beg in addition to the enumeration of the sei vices already detailed, to bring to your Excellency's notice, the conduct of my Acting Brigade Major Matter, Ensign sSth Regiment, and of Lieutenant Collinson, Rotal Engineers; for the set vices they rendered me under fire, iv convening orders. The duties of the latter officer, since the formation of this post, have been most arduous, iv which he has had the valuable assistance of Lieutenant Balneavis, sSlh Regi- I ment, from the commencement, and from these two officers, great benefit has been obtained to many branches of the service, both in fortifying this portion (one of great difficulty), and in every part of the engineers department. To Captain Henderson, commanding the Royal Artillery, and my second in command in the advance, yesterday, I beg to offer my thanks for his asbistance and advice— to Captain Hardy, commanding detachment 58th Regiment, I am equnlly indebted, as my second in command of the forces, also to Captain Wolf, commanding 65th detachment, in the absence ofCaptaiu O'Connell (who prevented by an accident from partaking in active operations, took command of the posts, and rendered the best assistance) to Lieutenant Holmes, R. N., of H. M. S. " Calliope," alluded to more than once, by Captain Haye, lam under obligation for his unceasing exertio us. I, can only refer to my preceding details, arid your Excellency's knowledge of the ground, as to the support I received from both Officers and Men of Her Majesty's service, and the Armed Police under Deputy Inspector Strode, opposed to an enemy unsurpassed as skirmishers. Lieut. Bernard 65th regt., though wounded in the head, the ball having remained in his cap, continued with the advance. To Staff Surgeon Courtenay, and Assistant Surgeon Philson* 58th regt., both of whom were present in the field, I have to express my thanks for their assidui ty and attention to the wounded. Respecting your native allies of the Ngatitoa tribe, though but 3 in mfmber under Lieut. Servantes, one of whom was wounded, I would call your Excellency's attention to thtfif gallant ; nor can I omit to

bring to your notice the devotioii shewn by the Putiki natives who proved their attachment to the British Government on this occasion.