PUKETAKAUERE PAH.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 303, 14 September 1860, Page 3

PUKETAKAUERE PAH.

To the Editor.—l have seen somewhere in your paper of September Ist, a report giving a description of the Puketakauere. I. cannot more aptly correct it than by describing the pah in question as strong on all sides, the palisading anything but slight, and admirably constructed. The interior is lined with rifle pits very ingeniously constructed, and affording the most perfect shelter to the occupants. The position is accessible for guns on one side only, and is flanked by a mound towards the river, defended by two ditches, one of which is nearly 20 feet deep. The difficulty of the position is enhanced by the nature of the surrounding country, which is intersected by deep gullies and thickly covered with high fern and scrub.

Another passage in the same paper affirms that the position was rendered comparatively valueless by the two 8-inch guns of H.M.S. Iris. I think, Sir, that on reflection it will be obvious that no such effect can be attributed to the guns in question. Although the expenditure of about 100 rounds, extended over two months may have rendered the occupants extremely uncomfortable, yet it cannot have rendered the pah less tenable in case of an attack. The whole of the palisading was intact, and if the troops had been advanced, the fire of the 8-inch guns must have been stopped.

Our paper contains an announcement of the death of William Leech, Esq. Death has been so rife amongst us since the war broke out, and

usually under such barbarous circumstances, that those who die from natural circumstances scarcely awaken the feelings with which we should regard the event in times of peace and quiet. In Mr. Leech the Province has lo§t a friend, and the Government an efficient and,valuable public servant. After residing many years in India from the age of 20, which country he lefti with a constitution impaired by the climate. Mr. Leecli came to New Zealand when Auckland was colonised, and after filling several situations of public trust there, was promoted by Governor Sir George Grey to New Plymouth where he received the appointments of Sub Treasurer and Collector of Customs, the du-'l ties of which he transacted to the day of his death. ' Mr. Leech was an invalid from the time of his arrival amongst us, but his death was sudden and quite unexpected.

{From the Sydney Herald)