TARANKI.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 258, 10 April 1860, Page 3

TARANKI.

the great demand for papers containing the bSttlo of Waireka, and. at the risk of repetition, we giver from the faranaki New* a revised account of the events ,which we have previously copied from the Tarandkißerald.]. . :

(FromiJte Tardmfci News, April 5.) We gave in our last issue |ome account of the action which we believe is called now by common consent the Battle of Waireka ; >jt was necessarily imperfect, and we now give a fuller account for the information of our readers.

When the . authorities became aware that several families, numbering upwards of CO souls, were at the mercy of the native war party that murdered our. unarmed, settlers and boys last week, a lively interest was manifested in: their behalf, and a hundred Volunteer Bides and 50 of the Militia volunteered to attempt their rescue. These were strengthened by the Light Company of the 65th, under Colonel Murray; and partof the Naval Brigade under Lieutenant Blake, R.N., with a rocket tube in charge of a party of Artillery, under Lieutenant McNaughten. The plan of operations was, that while Colonel Murray with his men, the naval Brigade, and the Artillery, marched strait to the enemy's front by the road, the Militia and "Volunteers should reach the flank of the enemy by the beach, and, turning their position, remove the beleaguered families. After marching about six miles, the Militia and Volunteers reached the Waireka stream on the beach at about 3 o'clock p.m.; they had been descried ashort time before by the natives from their fortified pah on the Waireka hill, about three quarters of a mile inland from the sea, on a commanding position, and while the force was placed in position by Captain and Adjutant Stapp on the high ground both sides of the, stream Waireka, the Natives spread over the open couutry towards us with great boldness and .celerity. Captain Atkinson and No. 2 Company of the Volunteers first came into action ou the south side of the Waireka, until the natives occupying the light bush in the upper part of the Waireka gully made it advisable to secure some cover. For this purpose, Jury's house, stacks, aad furze fences were selected by Captain Stapp, the house being converted into an hospital for the wounded. Lieutenant Hurst letl the advance with; No. 1 Company of Volunteers, supported by Captain Brown aud the reserve, on the high ground betweeu two gullies, on Captain Atkinson's left flank to drive the natives out of -the bush from whence they were annoying him. At this .. moment Lieutenant Blake, with his Naval Brigade, appeared some distance iv advance of Lieutenant Hirst by the other arid paraliel line of march, and it was here that Lieutenant Blake was shot in the cheat. Lieutenant Hirst wasiherefore withdrawn by Captain; Browrn to the edge of the open part of the gully, from which some scattered Natives, in clumps of fern aud flax, were firing at the portions on either side of them. Lieutenant Hirst then joined Captain Stapp at Jury'shouse. The Natives now finding Captain Brown's position with the reserve of Mititia, only armed with muskets, our^weakest poiut of defence, directed a strong fire on it from rifles and fowling peices. At.this time, Captain Stapp sent Captain Atkinson with his rifles to prptect :the, cqmm.uiiicdtiQn between the. two positions, aud Culouel Murray detached, a sectiou of the Light Company to "the assistance of Captain Brown's position; here they gallantly did good service, being led by Lieutenaut Uiquhart iuto the r thick of it. The Native 3, however, endeavored to meet this by trying to creep through the gully and cutoff the communication with Colonel Murray and the Ooaata stockade, to prevent which, it was deemed advisable for Ljuutenaut Urquhart to take up a positiou with most of his men that would place the gully between two fires, and U*p the line of communication open; this had iiardly been done, when the recall was sounded by Colonel Murray, arid Lieutenant Urqahart retired. Some of the reserve, under Captain Browu, who heard the recall, started to fellow likewise/but were called back to their position. The Natives, perceiving the slight confusion which had taken place, made a rush to cut off the retreat of the party, and, unaware that Captain Atkinson was in cover commanding the open grouqd they were traversing, they were brought down at point blank range in great numbers 16 ore they could get into coyer. The reserve leuig now in a position that the natives were not likely to occupy from its exposed situation, and beiog encumbered with five severely wounded men (one a marine who was one of four of the Naval Brigade who gallantly joined the Volunteers and Militia during the fight), the wounded were passed to Captain Stapp's position, aud were followed by Captain Brown and the Militia; the eight men of the 65th, uuder Corporal Kelly, joining Captain Atkinson, where the fire was then the hottest.

i Captain Brcwri and Captain Stapp's partie 8 then proceeded to throw up breastworks of the stacks and fences at hand, and it was while en* gaged in this, not long befoie sunset, tha* Captain Cracroft with tha Naval Brigade gallantly attacked, and took the Waireka pah. The only part of the pah visible from Jury's house was"the flagstaff, and aj 4 the flag was just seen to disappear, it was concluded that the Naval Brigade had taken it; but as there was no certaiuty that it was he d, and the ammunition was nearly exhausted, it was determined that if a retreat could not be effected with the wounded after dark, the position must be maintained. After the moon set, the whole force retreated to the Omata stockade, where they left the two most severely wounded, one of whom, Millard, marine, is since dead, and then oarae on to town, which they reached a little after miduight oa the morning of our last iaaiie. .' . ' '■- ■' '. ■- ■ . "■' ' ' :' :

The storming of the Waireka Pab by Captain Cracroft which relieved the Militia aud Volunteers from the brunt of the attack, was undertaken by Captain Cracroft as soon as lie was informed that a detachment of the 65th Regiment and a party of militia and volunteers, under .Colonel- Murray, had proceeded to Omata, arid were hotly engaged with the enemy and short of ammunition. He waa requested to furnish «> ntivial brij-afoto MCQjapaDy a Li«uteoant aud

a few men of the 65th Regiment'ill charge of the ammunition to Omata. At 3he landed'6o men and officers, and guided by Messrs. F. .lVifcoe and C. aud E. Messenger, used suchdespajttii that he reached the scene of strife at half-past five, having searched every empty house on the line of March. Being relieved of t!ie ammunition, the rocket party was advantageously posted, and the remainder of the pany proceeded to attack the enemy. By taking ad-1 vantage of a thickly wooded gully Captain Craeroft came unexpectedly on the enemy, ' opened fire, drove him back, and charging the fugitives, entered the pah simultaneously with them, and the cutlasses did the rest. A promised reward of JglO to the caprurer of the enemy's flag 3 had caused the palisades to be surmounted, and William Ogden was the first man in. This gallant .affair scarcely occupied more time than its narration. The sailors alone took the pah, held it, and only left it to return on board and provide for the creature comforts and safety of their craft. The devices on the principal flag, are the mountains Tongariro, Ruapeiu, and Taranaki, with the M.N., Maori Nation, and on the second a bloody heart and a single star on a red ground. : Of the forces engaged, the natives are known tojhave amounted to ,500 men, with reinforce- ' inents in their rear that would have brought them up to about 1000 men on the following day ; the forces on our side were— 65th Regiment.—Lieut.-Colonel Murray, Lieut Urquhart, Lieut. VVhitbread, 100 rank and file. Royal Artillery.—Lieut. Me. Naughteri,lo men. Naval Brigade.—Lieut. Blake, Dr. Lawrenson, JVIr. Theobald, 25 blue jackets. ■. ' Naval Brigade.—-Captain Cracroft, Lieut. Villiers, Dr. Patrick, Mr. Smyth, Mr. Grassiot, Mr. Karslake, 54 blue jackets and marines. Militia.—Senior Captain C. Brown, Captain and AdjutantStapp, Lieut. Mc.Keehney, Lieut Mc.Kellar, • Lieut. Armstrong, Eusign Messenger, 50 men. Volunteer Rifles.—No. 1. Company—First Lieut. Hirst, Second Lieut. Webster, 50 men. No. 2 Company— Captain H. A. Atkinson, First Lieut. C. Hammerton, Second Lieut. Jonas, 50 men. The casualties were— Naval Brigade.—Lieut. Blake, wounded severely, 1 corporal of marines killed. 3 blue jackets wounded. 65th regiment.—2 soldiers wounded.. Taranaki Hifle3.—Lieutenant Hammerton wounded, Privates F. Rawson, do., J. Hawken, do., W. Messenger, do., 1\ Inch do. Militia Sgt. Fahey, killed; W. Oliver, wounded. J. Clinio, dp., W. Bayly, dp. From all we can learn the natives must have lost some thirty killed in the field, besides wounded, as well as some twenty killed, besides wounded,, ia the storming of,the pah by Captain Craci'oft. The account we gave in our last of the action at the Waireka was in the main correct; but as some particulars, especially the movements... of the military on that occasion, were omitted or imperfectly described, from want of information on the moment, we have this week furnished a more detailed, and We believe a correct account of the operations of the day, which our readers will find in another column. We now take up the thread of events Which have since occurred. - Thursday. —Poor Sarten, the Volunteer trooper wounded at the attaok on W. King's pah at Waitara, and who died on Monday, was buried in;St..Mary's Churchyard, in the town !by Archdeacon Govett, with military honors A party of Volunteer^Rifles fired over his grave. Shaw, Pussmore, ami the lads Pote and Parker, murdered with Mr. Ford at Omata, were also buried to-day. In our last we gave the fact! lof the rescue of the Reverend'; Mr. Brown's family, and the other | | parties in his house. They were brought off by a party of friendly natives to xhe numb r of, twenty, who went down to ascertain i their fate, and who, on passing' the stockade, and getting within sight of the rebels' pah on the Wireka hill, descried Mr. Brown riding down the hill, and soon met him. No natives then remained in , the neighborhood. Mr. Brown's family came in late in the evening. It is stated that the safety of Mr. Brown's, Mr. W. Garrington's, and other families at Omata, was entirely owing to the influence of T. Wiremu and Bob E. Rangi, the neutral chiefs at Potoko. These last describe the loss of the natives as very large, and that the terrible rifle had told with fearful effect on :the enemy. They had all retreated to their homes to bury their dead and tend their wounded in the afternoon of Thursday, having been all the morning employed in collecting their killed and wounded j whioh took fourteen carts to carry them away. Tainati Wiremu states that* all the principal Taranaki ohiefs were killed in the action yesterday, and furnishes a list of the following— Paora Kukutal (the leading chief), Puratene Kopara, Perere Pakau, Taraia, Tawaiu N^eu, Hatawira, Wata Temeia (a Waikato), Hapurona, and many other natives of lesser note. The loss of the Ngatiruanuis has also been very great. Chiefs killed—-Te Hanataua (principal chief of the'tribe), Iharara Hami, and a great number of wounded of both tribes. ■'.•-. Friday. —At four o'clock this morning, the Harbor Master went on board H.M S. tfiger, with a letter for Captain Cracroft from His Excellency, and the vessel, immediately steamed south to Warea. abreast of which she anchored about nine o'clock, a mile and a quarter off shore.. A volley was fired by the natives, as if they,anticipated the object of her visit. A heavy surf was breaking on the beach, and it was quite impossible to effect a landing with the boats. About nine o'clock the steamer opened fire, throwing ,a 10-inoh shell and a 24----pounder rocket, which latter fell a little short of the point of the pah. The second went into the middle,-but failed to set it on fire. Shot and shell were thrown in great numbers and the pah was thoroughly knocked about. The tiring was made with great precision, but the natives were supposed to have left i the place for their war pahs was on the north j side of the river, and the distance being too great to set fire to them by rockets, it was deemed inexpedient to expend more shells. The steamer next proceeded for Mokotunu. where the enemy had hoisted his colors, but they bad disappeared on the ship arriving opposite, and it was not considered worth throwing away shot and shell on the miserable pah. Captain Craeroft consequently resolved to return to the anchorage, which was ■■ reached about 2 p.m. This demonstration, although not / completely succeessful owing to the wind and swell pravailing, will nevertheless prove to them that it is in pur power to retaliate on them by throwing a powerful force pn their settlements should they venture on further incursions, aud having destroyed their pahs, hamws them in the rear or cut oft their retreat entirely. A full muster of the Volunteers and militia was called for tbia morning, *t tlie parftde ground, tnd

were met there by his Excellency, who addressed them in a short and effective speech to the following purport. He thanked them for the able aid that they had afforded the military, observing that the settlers had' come forward in defence of their homes and Taranaki in a. mostgaladt way. He had heard, he said, with some regret, that a feeling of difference had arisen between the, soldiers and civilians; but he trusted that no suoh feeling would continue, j for a " house divided against itself would fall: that unanimity was the great means -of success and that he did not doubt that an amicable understanding would be maintained between the various corps. His Excellency further said that, being now convinced of the1 security of the town, since to success; and that he did not doubt that an amicable understanding would be maintained between the various corps. His Excellency further said that, being now convinced of the security of the town, since the successes at Omata, be felt at liberty to, leave the place, as he considered he could be of as much or more service to the cause of peace in Taraifftki elsewhere, and. that it was his intention to returu to Auckland. He could not, he said, leave New Plymouth before this, inasmuch as: the danger had been to great to allow of his departure'; but, now, be ft It sure, that any one might retire to rest in safety, the strict guard around the towu rendering it out of the qiies*tion certainly that any unforseea attack or mishad could- occurred. His Excellency further stated that more troops were expected,—more, in fact, when would be necessary to restore tranquility* He left the parade ground amid the cheers of the militia and volunteer corps. It is said that the intention of the Ngatiruaikui and Taranaki natives originally was to ijo'iu W, King, but that they were persuaded to locate themselves at Omata by the traitor Mauahi; audit has since transpired that, but for the providential demonstration in favor of the Omata families! oq Wednesday, which happily ended in their utter discomfiture, the town was to have been attacked by them on the following evening, in the rear by 200 men, and by the coast line by the same number, with a reserve of 200 more. There was a report abroad that the natives, in their retreat, had burnt the houses of several of the settlers at Tataraimaka ; but we hear that this is unfounded, and their depredations have been confined to the furniture and provender which th» houses there and at Omata contained. Fahey, the militiaman who fell at Waireka, was buried to-day with military honors. Mr. Ford, our fellow townsman, who was murdered at'Omata, was also buried to day. We hear on good authority that Man a hi, although the instigator of the Omata slaughter, waa not one of the actual murderers, and that Mr. Ford was shot by a native named Perere Pakau, who fell in the reoent action. By the arrival of the Tasmanian Maid we learn that all is right at Waitara, and that W. King's people are employed in building a strong pah in the bush at Mataitawa. The Tasmanian Maid has returned to Waitara. She has on board 25 blue jackets from the Niger to protect her in the river. The Airedale also arrived from Manakau, with 90 rank and file of H.M. 65th regiment, under the command^ of Captain Strauge and Lieut. Wrixon; sheleft on Saturday for Nelson with upwards of 60 women and children.

The Niger left on Saturday afternoon for Auckland, with the Governor on board. His Excellency was loudly and repeatedly cheered on leaving the shore by a crowd of settlers, who attended him to the beach. A proposition to give his Excellency a public dinner before his departure;was originated- by, the Superintendent and a committee of gentlemen ; but was declined by, bis Excellency. A strong party of volunteers and militia was despatched this morning to destroy the furze hedges in the neighborhood of the Omata stockade.

Sunday-— On the previous Wednesday, when the action at the Waireka was taking place1, smoke was observed at the Omata pah in the bush, in the rear of RatipihipibJ, and the conjecture at the time was that it came from Mr. Wright's land. To-day, W. Jones, one of the men at the Omata stockade, went into the bush to look after hi 3 own property, and having to cross Mr. Wright's land, found that the residence, with all the furniture, which the family, in their hasty exodus, had left behind, together with the outhouse, had beau burnt down and destroyed. '

Monday.— A large party of the Militia and Volunteers were mustered at 3 o'clock this morning, and proceeded to the Omata district to thrash the grain and get in the potato crops in that neighborhood, and to place the whole under the protection, of the stockade. During the day and following night, the military undertook the Militia and Volunteer duties in the town. It is satisfactory in the highest deg;ee to witness the unanimity that prevails between the military and civilians in their services for the common safety, each appearing to emulate the other in good offices, and the desire of good undemanding.

Tuesday.— Printed copies of the following proclamation by the Governor were posted in various parts of the town, and it is much to be d sired, and we think scarcely io be doubted, that the measures taken will ultimately eventuate in the capture or death of the principals in the bloody affair to which it refers:— PROCLAMATION. By hi 3 Excellency Colouel Thomas Gore Browne, Companion of the most honorable orderof the Bath, Governor and Commander in-Chief in and over her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Adnoiralof the same, &c, &c, &c. Whereas on or about the forenoon of Tuesday, the twenty-seventh day of March instant, certain aboriginal natives named, Haneti, Rihara, Manahi, Minarapa Mautaranui, Te Karita Rangirunga, Pene Tabuna, Ihaka te Aka, and certain others, them aiding and abetting therein did foully, wantonly, and with malice aforethought murder, or cause to be murdered, Henry Passmore, Samuel Shaw, Samuel Ford, James Pote, and William Parker:

Now, therefore, I, the Governor, do hereby, proclaim and declare that thesum of one hundred pounds will be paid to any parson or persons who will deliver up to Colonel, Gold any one of the above mentioned murderers or their accessories; provided also that if the person ot persons or any of. them so delivering up any of the above mentioned murders shall have himself or themselves been concerned in the said murders or auy of them, or iv any way accessory thereto, then and in that case he or they shall also receive a free pardon. Given under my hand and itsued under the PablicSealof the Ooloßty^ ** Ke« By-

jnonthi this thirty-first day of March, in I tho year of our Lord one thousand eight] hundred and sixty. . ... . T. Gore Browne. By His Excellency's command,' "." . E. W. Stafford. '._ God save the Queen.! The Wonga Wonga arrived in the roadstead about two o'clock this morning from Wanganui; No mail from New Plymouth having reached there for the last three weeks, some anxiety was felt to ascertain our position. The Wonga Wonga will leave for Nelson on Thursday morning, and then prooeed to Wangauui. Wednesday. —There was a general inspection of the 65th, the Militia, and Volunteers, on the parade ground, after whkb Colonel Gold, in,a short address, complimented the Militia and Volunteers on the very efficient and. cheerful manner in which they had performed the heavy duties the present difficulties imposed, and for their gallant behaviour in the recent action. They had, he said, defended this beau- , tiful province and the Queen's authority in a most gallant manner, and their conduct on that day would be recollected in the Province/as long as that beautiful mountain (pointing to Taranaki) shall last. They had given, the Maories the greatest thrashing they had ever received since the islands became a colony; and 'he felt "■■ assured that, should another opporttt? nity occur, the lesson would, be repeated.".lnformation reached town thii morning that Mr. Arden's house at Bell Block had been broken into and ransacked, and every ariicleof clothing, bedding, &c, carried off. The Tasmanian Maid came io from Waitara to-day, reported all right, and returned in the evening. ' -