NATIVE DISTURBANCE IN AUCKLAND.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1052, 3 September 1879, Page 2

NATIVE DISTURBANCE IN AUCKLAND.

* : , * „ • \ ■ v> ; Auckland,. September 2. No' iteps Bave- 'been taken to the perpetrators 1 of the outrage on Hie Ohinemuri survey party, pending the action of the Hauraki tribes. Messages have been dispatched to .Piako, Whakatipuj Cottage Bay, Coromandel, and other places, summoning representatives of the different "tribes togi£he*V-±(T "discuss the cottduct pf -.the'ygatihaKoe natives. The precaution to prevent th&vescape of the culprits to the KingTemtoryV Mr. Grace ; of - Alexandra, is recommending that _men should be kept at Te Aroha, and at Mr. Frith's out-station, to keep a sharp look out. ' Major Te Wheoro, of the Lower Waikato, has cautioned his men against encouraging the offenders if they pass that way. . Superintendent Thompson has received the following telegram from the Sergeant in charge of the Bay of Islands : " Two natives have been shot at Kaitohi, they having quarrelled between themselves about the survey of land, and were preparing to go there." September 3.

It appears that the Government land purchase agents at the Thames paid a deposit upon the Tukehaga block to the Ngatihako, and proceeded to survey the land duly proclaimed to a particular spot, called Pukehanga. The block was made to include a piece called Okahakua, upon which the Ngatihakoe have been living, and to which it is said they have a right, hence the attack on the survey party. The village where the offenders have taken refuge is well situated for the Maoris. At this place, between the Thames and Piako, lies an extensive swamp, which only the Maoris can cross, and a straight line of five miles brings the Maoris to the Piako, where there is an extensive native settlement, with people ready to turn out to assist in any opposition to surveyors. It would be difficult to get these natives in a corner, and almost impossible to stop them from receiving and despatching from different quarters. The Ngatihakoe are connected with Tukukino and Pineha, of Piako, and have considerable influence. Grahamstown, September 3.

Messrs. Sheehan, Thompson, Stewart (District Engineer), and others, left for Ohinemuri this morning. It is authentically stated that it is intended to use the outrage as a lever to compel obstructive natives to permit the carrying through of the telegraph and railway from Koenata to Te Aroha, as a protection to Europeans, and that these are the reasons why Mr. Stewart has gone up to the Piako. The chiefs have seen Mr. Sheehan, and protest loyalty.