FALL OF MERE MERE.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 6, 20 November 1863, Page 3

FALL OF MERE MERE.

THE ENGAGEMENT A/T MAUKuI j - ■; /T^:CHANG?^HB, M^ST^r. V ; IrtSW POLICE K? NATIVE APFAIRS. ANNEXAtTIONOF STEWART'S ISLAND TOSOUTHIAND. V WHDILWIND IN AUCKLAND, i •-. - i- , ,[FKOM OURmOWN -CpRBraPONPEST ] Auckland, November 5> .;' The celebrated Maori, position at Mere Mere is in our hands at last, and contrary; to all expectati9*n,,it,4B so without bloodahjd|on' eithet sifieii -pri Sunday, tK&- lst*-Jloveihber, „ .ther natives deserted it, leaving tbefr-la|ge guns, of which they had three in all, behind them as trophies. The reason of this -sudden desertiop. of the long-held <post was, jthat th|ey «aw"they Vere on 'the eve; dt Ije'ihV attacked, and knew perfectly they could, not hope either to escape; or defend-the position against the measures talcehl>ythe General to secure its fall. The result is in a great measure owing to the success of the colonial kon-cmd gunboat Pioneer, which is found to be weiladapted for its work intjie.meantimc so long as the river "'is at a high'level.- -iShe *^was em,-, ployed early on the Saturday in «onveyi'ng about 800 men past Mere Mere and up to; a .placee ;ma^ed .on^tlje.majp Tdcanau^- abojut riine;iniles|higher s jUj4 pte|*e jmeitEobps ;to s bk ' Tip a position'on the road" leading "from Mere Mere to Rangariri,-so cutting off the communication between 'the two places. Their •orders were to throw dp "slight Works and get the cannon they'had with them into position, and then to mardi at dawn on Monday morning to co-operafteTOth t»e General's attack jto t>e then made in front. The natives of coucse saw that they werei3iemmed in on both sides, while the river in front was completely in our hands. Early <cm Snndsy mdrifing," beforeday light, they made an >attaok upon our position at Takapau, wi#i'fhe Idea, it would;_ seem, of driving usoff and opeaing a iroad by which to retreat. They were -beaten <|ff -with ease, although the darkness p-evented our pursuing them in case of losing l'he way. Seeing thi'sitheytooktbe only way left them, and made off in their canoes at the rear of Mere Mere, over the flat country now, owing to the long rains completely.under water. At one o'clock on Sunday, our iren were in pep session of the place which it had cost the natives months of hard labor to fortify. The whole of the Waikato country proper is now in the General's hands, and had he but fiye •or six thousand men of the military settlers to locate upon the choice lands along thq,. river at once, the great strength of the rebellion would already be broken. As it is, »part of the v native*'are suppose"d to have retired towards the"Ngaruawahia up the river, •andpart towards the Thames and Wairoarivers The whole coast east of Auckland as far as: •Cape ColviUe, jisv-now blockadedvs'trictlyjby the Miranda and Sandfly, which const intjy cruize up.jm'd down frota the'TWames to tl|e Wairoa. As aoon as the small iron steamers now preparing in Sydney are built, we shall .lie-able to navigate, the Thames/ as wel\ as the Waikato and the Waipbf r Of 'the' fierce •engagement at Mauku, you course heard via Wellington ere this. I am, howev,. r, nojv in a position to give you'the Maori account of the affair as sent abroad to the tribes of the North. They say that fully 400 choice men of the Ngatimaniapoto and .Ngatiawa tribes made a deseent^npori the^ district, which is a marked one from the vast activity jshown throughout by its defendeis. They •^/Aitendedxto * storaf |the.ss(pcM.des and kill all the force, whfch amouuted to nearly IC|O men. Their surprise in being attacked by 61 /m§3i,in the open must have, been great^ As it wsis tliey made sure of eating thtra iip, to j rJiiS^J^^ w J» J*§SP.C§^i^^ -were dreadfully disappointed,when the little -band charged tbem ana escaped by breaking through their very centre. ,They acknovf3edge.tb r having-*lo8tYl2? men *"andVa''-chi|f; of •;not^ wfrile-'they, exaggerate-jo-ffrjlb'ss" t*t*? I|4 men killed. IThey say thatrfvery'imany qf them were .'woapdejl,. for the pakehas., wei-e veryj braved! iJWiidjthe iprbdf of 'this is that they_never rested a moraeiU, until they^^ail ■place3 J'j^e terrible 'settler^sbidiers^^a; *C3fe<wge,iGrey freely expresses. his_.Qpimoii-tliat it -was both the most glorious.and-thejHio.s^effective blow that the natives' nayg received in the was; . we.a^l feej^^nd^h^i^-tj^giot ar sii«g|e" . militatyin^.w^sCTga^^^i^ X4lat., l.usk, in command, .down; toitbgft youngest private. -' —*— * ------ \% The DomettMinistrs-4EaiE9allen.' This it -did from internal-weakness, not from any ' -external violence, i Domett cshldl not -g^tf on with hia coll^^es^^TtetteW Mfnist^y v^cb Mr Fox succeeded in formingpcririSi&ls 1 ' foj-j-Mr-^^itTS*siT""Atl6rnwrGeneral and~Frd-1 mieT; Mr"r"E6Sv :C6l6iiiiil?^SlfeTetaty anti I Native Minister j-—^Mr_ Wood,, T^ainrCT | nn*-C^m!&ibh%r : tf*CS*^^ Minister 7df edlbriial^rf^^^.'QaiteS, Postmaster-Gen-eftli' Jl}- *'^"11 South. The annonnewndnt"- was" fec^ve& and ,the f,Miwl^-»F^> ib%r^'!??P r strong -one ■fh'"tne i H6use.^Th^ policy is" simpld. Natives in arms am.to be reckoned •anrto 1 "be "iieXM^'W/^u'cifr foWeJted" 5 to v'%h^,cM«T^l^L^ all(|t -thetn'feho^Vf^ ffiel^S^i^^M^^lowi •Grdbt to each, indiridnal. white'vtfeeag»eal '- m'ass'^ "ffie MmWlb ffi fc^7^eVdf the war, and for establishing- fffllitafo aettl^- 1 rrimtipA^(f^jy^ f 20,OdO"ltfSlH"^fdV/v6WehWd t dHldren, a* iioii^hgray: 0 rtmmmo^u^^mer^i a Lieutenant-Governor, Tina J>*o jVlemiberi*~of'' %L it" car^sH to ha!^^n^-^ttffife*^4Ae'Stewart s Island annexed to -it as part of the Prq"jrvjnce, -without '-ap^omtiodv l-. Mißtaiy Settlen^te-Bitt-oon^Vfen^^to-Twgbti fur its second rea"dingi?o^itr<wll^afeaHwitßoUt"'airious iHiliiliiliiiß in ljidi TTiiaiiniri _ VMtwijtjjJti'-t'j «ioon*la Vinous wKirlwirid"paisef over tqe it did is, I believe, under-estimated at £500J>,- --' "-was strong enough to level whatever came ita way, foom trees -wliich wei» wKncbed off al iem- feet worn 1 tHe gto-undfto4arge bri^c houses, which were absolutely levelled hi several c«dGtftlQiptidHa¥iiiiivooden factoiy was scattered in'huge pieces over the countiy for sW^t^ll^^i^r^QnW sides, arid ! the Government Block-house of iron was swept away in a moment, the pieces re^.t into ahreda, b ing scattered ov*er fully a quarter of a mile. No livea were lost, although many nvtlWfe^^wKSl** 1 were inflicted tiy faUing pieces of timber, j