TARANAKI.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 352, 8 March 1861, Page 1

TARANAKI.

Our last summary could boast of uioro importa^ news from Taranaki tban appears likely to the case with the present, uuless intelligence '$Q close at hand of a more decided character tha'hj, has been received in the interim. Since thesuccessful repulse aud punishment inflicted on the rebels in the attack on Kairau redoubt, which was last month fully'narrated aud commented upon, no intelligence of any decided success has been received. An affair at Hui rangi on the 10th ultimo, however, has to be mentioned. On the previous evening tlie men bad been prepared for an early, start, and General Pratt .arrived at the Huirangi redoubt from the Waitara with reinforcements-.of troops at four o'clook, the force. was a large one with Artillery, Engineers, and Naval Brigade, in company ; a.short march brought the force to the open ground behind the Huirangi bush, and no resistance was offered to their, advance, uutil ft large, flat thickly covered. with fern was reached; they were, then about 500 yards from ihe high ground where .Hapurona's pah is situated: the, position had^J»Q|ißa strongly entrenched,' the ground for a Jo.ng distance had beeiMnade defeasible by the care aud ingenuity with which the rebels had prepared for the long expected attack, afld their defences extended, as was afterwards evident, in a semicircular loroi

from left, to right of the position of our forces; every available point had, been made use of to entrench it or make rifle pits, and the. ridge, of the hills that backed them had tiers of pits, one over. the other, almost forming a succession of little fortresses for which they delivered their fire without exposing themselves Jo anything but a chance shot'in return. > The arrival of the troops on the flat was a signal (or the enemy to open fire upon them from their, concealed position, and this they did pretty heavily, though without commuting much mischief or getting their distance very accurately. Upon the, commencement of the firing another redoubt was planned by Colonel and . Captain. Mould, and working parties at once, established to form the new position: this was steadily persevered in in, the face of the enemy, who by various Btratagema attempted to turn our right flank without success; the men engaged at the work were the favorite targets of the rebels, and

several daring attempts made to cut off portions of the force were frustrated by the activity of

, our skirmishers. During the day the guns aud rockets, were lavish in their attention to the enemy or rather. io tbe pah. and surrounding 1 ground, for entrenched and half buried out of \ harm's way as there were, no great loss of men resulted on their side. On ours a melancholy catastrophe occurred before noon; the rebels baying gradually, obtained a better range jCaptain Strange of .the 65th was Btruek down., a bullet having passed through his thigh while instructing bis skirmishers to dig pits for cover; tbe ball severed an artery, and death from loss of , blood ensued after some hours suffering. Towards evening the redoubt being uearly^com; pleted, 400 men were left, to garrison it under Colonel Wyatt; the men were, unprovided with tents during the night, but had sufficient work to keep the na ives at a respectable distance, and firing was kept up until morning, After . garrisoning the redoubt the remainder.of the forces returned to camp, having apparently effected little more than the rapid construction of a fort during an exposure .to ; ,trj« -fire of the enemy, which caused the loss of three lives th-it of Captain. Strange before alluded to, a Corporal who ; was shot while inside the breastworks (the poor fellow bad placed bis hand on the spot where the bullet struck him aud walked outside the redoubt to die! without complaint or tbe knowledge of his comrades at the time), and one man wounded at the time since died. Besides these casualties there were tbat day eight men wounded, and several narrow escapes, one man having his ear pierced by a bullet, and. another having the scalp of bis head somewhat disturbed and bis cap well ventilated by similar means. Another aocouut says tbat Captain Strange's men had formed little rifle pits, and that that officer was lying in one of them when bit. The last redoubt thrown up is about a mile in ad-, vance of that known as No. 6 ; tbe whole .of the others between Kairaa and No. 6 have been destroyed. The pah which.'was? at first to have been carried by assault,, it was. afterwards decided should be sapped to, and a work of ten days anticipated. During -the operations sue- \ ceeding those previously detailed, up to the time1 of our last advices, another man,of the 40th had' been killed, and two wounded,, and Captain \ Richards wounded slightly in the groin. On tbe , B.th, ult., Captain W. C. King (militia).was waylaid While venturing out unarmed to visit.bis. estate.at Woodleigb, and shot dead; his burial I in St. Mary's church-yard took place on tbe 10th , —the same day that Captain Strange reoeived : his death wound, before the Te Arei pah, at Hurahgi. The seitlers at Taranaki have been framing a memorial to the Governor, on matters closely connected with the. well being of the settlement. The following is the purport of it :-— MEMOMAL TO THE! GOVERNOR. , To his JExjeellency Colonel Thomas Gore Brown, C.B.,'&c, <Xc, &c. Tne Memorial of the undersigned settlers of the Province of Taranaki showeth:— That the position of this Settlement is very critical, and the"results of the present system of carrying on the war most unsatisfactory. ■ That notwithstanding the presence of a very considerable military force iv this Province, it is yet un*afe. for any person to venture beyond the outposts in consequence of the country being continually overrun by small, bands of marauding Natives within rifle shot of the Barracks,. ..That, within the, last fortnight a large number of valuable houses belonging, to,the settlers have been, burned, and great numbers of,,horses and, catt|e ; have teen .carried off by, such marauders;, and recently ft most "estimable settler has been "waylaid an# butchered., That the1 proximity of theso bands, arid the known existence of large bodies of Natives a short distance from the Town causes great uneasiness to the inhabitants, who fell that an overwhehhing force might be brought against it at any moment without warning. "••■:•• Your Memorialists therefore earnestly pray that your Excellency will be pleased to visit this Settlement to judge, personally of the state of affairs and to talce' such' measures as to your Excellency rhay seem fit. ■■•',.' The latter clause was speedily fulfilled by tbe arrival of his Excellency, on the 22nd ultimo, by the Iria from the Bay of Islands with Commodore Seymour and the headquarters of the 90th regiment. /His Excellency has been addressing the natives ,of the Bay of Islands, at the house of the Reside ut Magistrate, where several chiefs had presented themselves to welcome his arrival. They weire, they said, livio^ in tr^qiUty aa4' neaoei

without grievances or complaint, rumors about the Governor's intention of carrying on a genera] war being best refuted by his presence on that' occasion. A meeting of chiefs the following day, at Te.Ti, was attended, by his^xoellency. The real substance of this meeting was to represent to the Governor the unfairness of exceptional laws against aboriginals in the sale of ■spirits, &c. The reply to this was, that the subject should be considered at the uext native conference; but he would, not promise to alter the laws, complained.sof. when its object was really for the preservation of their race and the maintenance of. that good understanding between them and the Europeans, winch, would be l likely to be^^jeopardised, if. their old chiefa' w«ri?, contrary Jlv thew, wi^a^iiiiject to the pehaities and imprisonment that, followed druokeoness'andexcessi;: 'After, giving of his war policy at Taranaki, his Excellency; said that he should be glad to cbusult scrme pf the chiefs assembled—they being an' impartial tribe—upon the terms of peace which he desired, though reserved to himself the exclusive right of making.

Mongonui was also visited by the Governor; and the Rarawa tribe also addressed'in a speech recognising their friendly behavior hitherto, and unerring upon subjects touobihg the welfare of both races.

The.ravages that fatal sickness.has lately made amongst the inhabitants of the contracted town of Taranaki, 'is becoming, fearfully apparent, and should operate as a check to the desire' that" is ,so 'frequently : expressed by.persons removed.elsewhere during.the,.time of these unhappy disturbances r ior .their return there : a local paper on this subject says—

Taranaki has never in the twenty years since it was! first settled been visited by sickness to anything like the extent that we now. •xperience. Four deaths took place during the week from fever of the same lo.w type that has beeirnow nine months more or less present. It attacks.alf- classes and in all localities.. The town, though something improved in cleanliness. since.attention was called to itslstate. last year, is;yet far from what.it should be,, and. several public, nuisances exist, in defiance of 1aw,..-. But probably, the most serious evil", of. all is, the crowded state fof our dwellings, and the almost,una voidable. clpsenesS: and, impurity of air which follows from this.crowding. The return of more families or individuals, to the settlement under such circumstances cannot be too strongly' deprecated. Public spirit and private',. prudence' should prevent any persOn from indulging the. desire • that we all must feel to be reunited to our friends1 while such a scourge remains. "■