THE NATIVE WAR.

Southland Times, Issue 1186, 2 July 1869, Page 3

THE NATIVE WAR.

We take the following from' the recently published despatches :— Earl Granville to Governor Sir (i. X.\ Bowen. Downing-street, 9th Feb., 1869. Si r __l transmit to you for your consideration, and that of your responsible advisers, a copy of a letter from Colonel D'Arcy late Governor of the Gambia, suggesting a plan for the employment of a permanent colonial force in New Zealand, together with a copy of the answer which has been returned to it.— l have, &c, Gbanville. Governor Sir G. F. Bowen, G.C.M.G. Colonel D'Arcy to Lord Granville. Knole, Sevenoaks, 30th Jan., 1869. My Lord — My experience in bushfightinc in India and Africa will, I trust, be accepted by your Lordship as my excuse for venturing to trouble you with a suggestion, which may, if carried out, possibly prevent future outbreaks in New Zealand. , , „ nn . In a leader of the ' Times,' of 29th January, this sentence appears :— " The Sepoy fought against men of his own #ace; the Sikh helped to save our Empire in 1857 ; the Negro serves under our colours against Negro kings on the coast of Africa. Why should not the JNew Zealand native be equally amenable to military discipline?" Such is not quite the case. Hindostan and Africa are large continents. The Sepoy recruited in Oude has no sympathy with the natives of Mysore. The Sikha have never been called to figH against a Sikh; the plunder of Delhi was always his ambition Countries beyond the Sutlej were to them a terra incognita, and the Negroes of Equatorial Africa, first emancipated and then disciplined to the profession of arms in our West Indian Islands, have nothing in common with the half-Moorish Negro of the Senegambia, against whom he is generally arrayed. I doubt very much the expediency of enlisting Maori to fight Maori— all natives of one island. In New Zealand a difficulty presents itself in forming a permanent force from the settlers— labor is too valuable to admit of the compulsory idleness of Europeans, where intelligence is so much required in a new clearing; I am of opinion that a small corps d'armee might be raised at Freetown, Sierra Leone, and shipped as a permanent colonial force to New Zealand, consisting of 500 rank and file of Zouave Infantry, Colonial-born English blacks, including 100 trained gunners; if the Colonial Government would entertain such a plan, I most respectfully beg to offer my services to enlist and train the volunteers, having served a long apprenticeship in the service, and, moreover, I am very well known on the West Coast by the people, who would follow me willingly.— l have, &c., G. D'Abct, (Late Governor of the Gambia.) PS. — In the event of the Government at all entertaining this project, Colonel D'Arcy is ready to furnish a report as to transport, clothing, arms, and the best way of feeding the corps with recruits, &c, &c, and placing the officers on the same scale as the Irregular Regiments in India, viz : — 1 Commandant, 1 second in command, 1 Adjutant, 1 Quartermaster. "D'Arcy, Colonel Ceorge, appointed Governor and Commander-in- Chief of the Gambia, June, 1859 ; was adjutant of the 94th Eegiment, in which corps he served 16 years ; promoted by purchase as Lieutenant- Colonel in the 3rd West India Eegiment; after commanding the corps for three years, agreeable to Eoyal Warrant, gazetted as Brevet Colonel, 7th July, 1867 ; sold out May, 1858 ; appointed Governor of the Gambia, in June, 1859; served in the southern Mahratta war, 1845-46, East Indies; organised an expedition against the powerful robber king of Badiboo, and commanded the Eoyal Gambia Militia Artillery throughout the succesful campaign which followed during the months of February and March, 1861; was aide-de-camp from 1839 to 1848, to five successive Governors of Bombay, and also to General Sir Willoughby Cotton, G.C.8., 1850-51, when he commanded the Bombay Army ; author of a work on Light Infantry Drill. On leaving the Gambia, in December, 1866, Colonel D'Arcy was presented by the inhabitants with an address and sword of honor 'for devoted bravery at the storming of the stockaded town Tubabe Colong, Eiver Gambia, and to mark their appreciation of his administration of the Government.' " The Under Secretary of State, Colonial Office, to Colonel D'Arcy. Downing-street, February, 1869. Sir — I am directed by Earl Granville to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th ultimo, suggesting a plan for the employment of a permanent colonial force in New Zealand, to consist of English blacks born in the Colonies. I am desired to inform you that your proposal is a matter for the consideration of the local Government, by whom it is not probable that it will be adopted. His Lorcahip has, however, forwarded your offer of service to Sir George Bowen. — I have Ac, F. Stastobd. Colonel D'Arcy.