Untitled

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 357, 26 March 1861, Page 3

DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE PRESENT SCEN X O F OPERATIONS AG AINST THE WAIKATOS ON THE BANKS OF THE WAITARA.

[from our waitara correspondent.]

The piece of land so long in dispute between the Colonial Government and tlie native chief Wire-ou Kuigi is situated on the left batik of and takes its name-'from the river Waitara. The river rises among some bold mountains far inland, and flows from suulh-east in a northerly direction vi.til it emerges from a very irregular chain of rugged hills some seven miles distant from the coast. Escaping from these hills the Waitara winds its narrow course along a wooded and magnificently picturesque valley, having on each side an extensive tract of flat country which slopes with a gentle descent from the base of the hills to the sea shore. In proportion as the ground becomes level the river expands and deepens until it becomes navigable for small craft near the sea, into which it fulls about twelve miles to the north-east of New Plymouth. On the south or left bank of the river, close to its mouth and on the disputed land, was established the first military redoubt of the present campaign; here, too, was erected by Wiremu Kingi the first hostile pah that was ever opposed to British supremacy in the province of Taranaki; and here, on the 17th March, 1860, was made the first demonstration of British power that opened the present unhappy war in New Zealand. The first Waitara camp is still garriboned by our troops, and has been for some time back the head quarters for the General, and his base of operations against the enemy. Fiom the mouth of the river our defences extend about seven miles up its left bank : for five miles of this the country is level, and being unbroken save by a few monn' s and gullies it presents to the eye one grand plain, covered all over by-thick close fern, varying in height from four to ten feet, and offering no small impediment to a line of skirmishers. The Waitara plain is broadest near the coast, and, as we proved inland, it varies in breadth from one to three miles, being hemmed by the river on one side and by an extensive range of forest on the othex*. Five or six miles from the coast the forest forms a right angle and stretches across the head of the plain as far as the left bank of the river, and this strip of bush is called Huirangi, and has been till very recently the favorite rendezvous of the insurgent chief Kingi and his followers and allies.

To acquire possession of these few miles of open country on one bank of the river alone it was found necessary to establish no fewer than eleven positions; and to retain and secure the possession no less than seven of these posts are at present garrisoned by our troops. These are upper and lower camps, Waitava, and a blockhouse at the mouth of the river. Next is Puketakauere stockade, on a commanding mound two miles further up — memorable since the 27th of June, 1860. Then Matarikoriko stockade (remarkable as standing on the site of the Waikato pah captured on 30th December last) commands a view of all our defences, being situated on an elevated tongue of land that runs into the Waitara valley. A mile obliquely to the right front of this stands No. 1 redoubt, close io the gully from which the enemy was routed on the 29th December, and established during the heat of the battle. From No. Ito No. 6 redoubt the distance is barely a mill*, and the ground level, Yet so completely was it defended by rifle pits along* the brow of the valley, and so obstinately did the natives contend every inch of it, that it was found necessary to throw up redoubt after redoubt in an echelon line evi-ry three or four hundred yards as we advanced. The most remarkable of these is No. 3 redoubt, situated on the open plain, and memorable since the daring attack of the Waikato natives on the 23rd January, and I heir signal defeat by our troops. The native defences along the" front "belt of the tluirangi bush proved so formidable that, after expending an enormous quantity of all sorts of ammunition on them ineffectually, it was deemed necessary to advance from No 3 redoubt by means of a double sap ; and to protect this long line of entrenchment, intermediate redoubts were built, and are now standing vacant along it. But the Maoris did not wait to give close battle at Huirangi: when the sap hud readied the defences, they were found abandoned, and No. 6 redoubt was built on the site of the pits, directly in front of and close to the forest. The natives, thus dislodged from their position, were neither dishtartened nor subjugated, but fell back and established themselves, with undiminished obstinacy, along a ridge of hills a mile and a half behind Huirangi bush. Preparatory to our further pursuit of them it was necessary to cut down and clear away some 200 yards of the bush on the left front of Rio. 6 redoubt, for the double purpose of opening an unbroken view of the front,, and lessening the cover of the enemy. As we advance from. No. 6 redoubt the ground vises perceptibly and assumes a very irregular and rugged aspect. Between the Huirangi bush and the hills occupied by the enemy there lies a strip of open land, but it is very uneven and intersected in every point by numerous gullies all densely wooded and hidden from the view excepting at points close to their vicinity. Upon an eminence on this ground, within some 600 yards of the enemy's positions, stands No. 7 redoubt. Several guns and mortars are mounted on the fort in a position commanding the rebels', pah ; but guns and mortars have proved incapable of dislodging our proud and obstinate foe from the formidable heights they occupy. These hills jut out one from another in the most irregular order— their various slopes and steep declivities leaving broad ravines and gullies between ; and their sides and summits being partially clothed with a stunted growth of bush, affotd the natives excellent cover. On the whole they seemed formed by nature to favor the Maori system of warfare, and the Maoris have ingeniously improved the advantages thus afiorded them. The hills are entrenched on all sides: every approach to them is rendered difficult by the intervention of gullies, and commanded by mounds and eminences skilfully defended by rifle pits. Nay* more; most of these pits are so completely concealed by herbage that, if it were not for the fire of our invisible enemy, it would be difficult to believe that any such defences existed.

Such, then, is the aspect of the ground, and so great the advantages of the enemy, that to ensure the successful advance of our troops, and to procure the victory as cheap as possible, it was decided as tho best course once more to approach our

foe by means of the sap. This trench was com- j

menced at No, 7 redoubt, and is directed towards a!1 large pah in the possession of the Maoris. The work has already cost us the loss of twelve men in killed and wounded, but it is now nearly completed, and the range of hills occupied toy the enemy must see the Union Jack waving over them before many days. ' *f: