AUCKLAND.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 52, 29 September 1864, Page 3

AUCKLAND.

I The : most important item 'of intelligence" from this prc v'ince' is l the escape of the Maori prisoners from' the' KawaW The Auckland papers- teem with long accounts of the affair, hut we quote from theletter of "the correspondent of -'the Otago Daily Times ori ? the i subject; ; as being more concise' arid suited to our available space. He says : — "In a communication which I forwarded to you about. a : month ago;JSstatedthafcftheoldihulk Mai'ion, onboard of which were the Maori prisoners taken at Rangiriri 7 and elsewhere; had been ' removed! down*, to the island of the ! Kiawau, ; where the rebels were to be liberated, until some further arrangements could be made on their behalf, -at the. conclusion of tho war. 'The island belongs to his Excellency the Governor, and of . course .the .public thought it a very generous thing on the part of his- Excellency, so to permit his private, island estate to be made use of. The Governor appeared to^take the greatest interest in their removal; and in order to see. that .everything was carried out as, comfortably as it coulg be fpr, their reception and. accommodation,on .the island, personally visited the spot, and remained there four orjfive days| until the whole dusky mob— upwards of 200 — had embarked, and exercised their limbs by scampering up and down the place, scarcely believing in their .freedom. The guard of militia, who had done duty on the hulk, were henceforth to be "employed elsewhere, and were sent up the country, as it was imagined the poor natives would never think of leaving a place where they were so well cared for — had everything they were in want of supplied — with full liberty to ramble where they listed, and even . were it is said, supplied with gmis and ammunition to enjoy themselves in shooting wild pigs on the estate. The only persons left in charge of the prisoners were Mr. Francis, Mr. Angus White, and Dr. Sam. All appears to have gone on well until Sunday morning last, when the bell was rung for divine service, but contrary to their usual punctuality under such circumstances not a Maori showed his face, and the chaplain, (the Rev. Mr. Ashwell) had only oneperson for a congregation. Suspicion, being thus aroused that all was not right, a search was made in their quarters, when it was' found they had all decamped, taking with them everything they could carry in the way of blankets, camp kettles, &c, supplied for their uso. A portion are known to have crossed over to a deserted village near Matakana — distant across tho water about two miles— being enabled to do this, it is supposed, by some friendly Maori craft which have been hovering about the place for some days prior to their escape. Others are believed to have made direct: to the Frith of the Thames, and of course upon landing there they would be in the immediate vicinity of the quarters of the archrebel Thomson. His Excellency the Governor, went down to the Kawau yesterday morning, in the Miranda man-of-war, and it is supposed that some steps will be taken to endeavorto recapture the fugitives who have thus so signally given us the goby. Some alarm is felt in town that the arrival of such a large force amongst the natives of tho north will occasion 6ome disturbance there ; but time alone can decide this." Numerous robberies have been committed in the Waikato District. The military are suspected in not a few instances. A company on the limited liability system is being formed' for the establishment of steam communicatioii between Onehunga, Waiuku, &c. One-half of the proposed capital (£10,000) is already offered. After a four days' trial, before His Honor Chief Justice Sir. G. A.Arney, Alexander M'Lei-n was found guilt\' of the murder of his wife at Tokeno, in the beginning of June last, and sentence of death was passed upon him. Captain Henry E. Bonnet, lately of the 2nd company, Waikato Militia, has been committed for trial' before the Supreme Court of Auckland, on the charge of embezzling the sura of £64-8, which had at various times been issued to him for the payment of the men in his company. The military races were to come oil" on the 20th and 2lst inst., and Auckland was to keep holiday for these two days. Eleven more' rebels havo surrendered at Awu mitu. The Southern Cross, of 10th inst., says : — The great event of the week lias certainly been the sale of the township of N^avuawahia or Queenstown. This took place to-day, and tho prices which the allotments realised must have more than come up to the most sanguine anticipations. The upset price was £100 per acre ,but this was far exceeded ; and the allotments in many cases averaged from £200 to £300 per acre. One lot was sold at the rate of £1,200 per acre. Mr. Cochrane's auction room was never so crowded, and the bidding was kept up in the mo3t spirited manner, and did not once flag throughout. Many lots wero purchased by persons out of the colony. One singular incident in the sale was. that at the commencement of it a Maori woman came forward and road a protest against it. The total amount realised by the sale was £8,350." Some discharged seamen attempted to cross the harbor at Monganui on the evening of the 3rd inst., and in doing so, their boat capsized, and all were drowned.