AUCKLAND.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 8, Issue 377, 4 February 1864, Page 4

AUCKLAND.

The s.s. Sea Kquj arrived on the-27th ult. from London, with 1 battery Royal Artillery (185 men), 79 men of the Commissariat Staff Corps, and 17 officers belonging to some of the regiments already here. Slie brings 12 Armstrong guns—6 12-pounders and 6 6-pounders, and a large quantity of military stores. The artillery were to start for the front on the 30th. A meeting was held on the 27th ult. to take into consideration the distress existing among the soldiers’ wives "and children in Auckland. There are 376 of of the former and 500 of the latter, and they receive of allowance | lb bread and 1 lb meat per day each for women and half of that quantity for each child. The utmost the soldier could allow out of his pay to his family was 12s 6d a month. Resolutions were passed affirming the necessity of help, appointing a Committee and recommending a subscription!; .£IOO was * subscribed in the room. The Provincial Government has given £2OO Colonel Warre, of the 57th has been placed on the New Zealand staff temporarily, as Colonel on the staff. The appointment will not occasion his removal from his regiment. '

Dav by day the great crisis ol the war is drawing nearer. Each succeeding post, brings the same talc of military prepa i atiohs, and contemplated advance. '1 he public will await, with intense expectation, the result of the movement. The latest letter wo have to- baud is under date of the 24 th, and our reporter intimates pretty clearly that in a day or two from that date the iorward movement would be made. We do not doubt the courage of our troops ; we do not question the ability of the General On tim contrary, we believe that the British army does not possess finer soldiers than those engaged in New Zealand ; and that there is not in the service of the Crown an abler general, or a better soldier, than General, Cameron. Yet, with all that, impossibilities cannot be worked, and for that reason ,we do not expect to hear that an assault has been made within a few lion vs after the advance of our army, for a few hours march would take them from i uikaramea - to • Pjkopiko. This will be better understood, perhaps, if we explain somewhat in detail the relative positions of the army uncler General Cameron, and the rebel vaults against which he is concentrating his forces- Advancing by the

line of the Waikato, General Cameron drove the rebels before lam beyond Ngaruawahia. At this place the Waikato river divides into two navigable streams, the Wnipa being.bn the West.and the Horatiu on the East. Between these rivers is an extensive fern plain, abounding in swamps, but in its present natural state, and without roads, totally unsuited to the operations of cavalry. Having command of the river-, the troops are at all times able to advance by water, but on land the best line of advance is invariably by the Maori tx-acks through the country. When the General advanced on Ngaruawahia, it will be remembered that the natives abandoned their unfinished works thei’e, and retired inland. Tfie troops then advanced along the line of the Waipa, as far as Whatawh-ata, and after establishing a camp and military ’ depot there, a further advance of about six miles was made qu Tuikaramea. an old but insignificant.settlement belonging to VVi Nero’s tribe. This is pur advanced post. It is on n bend of the Wnipa? and about ten miles from Pikopiko, the nearest fortified camp of the rebels. The right flank of the army is protected by the occupation of tfie line of the Waitetuna and Raglan, the communication being open and safe between' the headquarters and the right wing, A inference to the map will show the strategic importance-.of. establishing this communication with Raglan and the West Coast, as it preveuts an attempt to shift the scene of the strife from the comparatively open ground of the delta to the wooded ranges which divide the Waipa valley from the Waitetuna, and extend northward, with more or less regularity, to Paparata. The natives are mainly posted several miles inland from the Waipa, and about ten miles in advance of Tuikaramea Their defences altogether consist, so far as we have accurate information, of five fortified pas. The nearest of. these is Pikopiko, situate on a piece of sloping ground on the main track from the Waipa to Awamutu and Rangiawhia, and about a mile beyond Heather’s station. This is an exceedingly strongly fortified place, and besides the earthworks, is likewise 'defended by heavy palisading. The covering approaches to the position are rifle-pitted. Those who know the country will recollect a small river, the Maugaotama, which tabs --into the Waipa about a mile and a-half below Smith’s station. A swamp extends inland from thence for some distance, which is divided by* a narrow 'ridge of slightly elevated land from a small lake, and another swamp. Over this strip of dry land, the old Maori track from the Waipa passes, and the Maoris have made the best of the position by 'strengthening it to check any advance iuto the country beyond. Such is Pikopiko—-a skilfully chosen and strongly fortified place, protected on the right and left by swamps, and approachable in frimt only by a narrow way, which lias been made as unsafe to an enemy as possible. It might be possiJe to turn the rear of this work by passing oyer the Maugaotama river, and rounding Hb swamp on the.enemy’s proper left, through the scrub, as the ground is hard ; but little would be gained by that movement strategically. Pikopiko is one of a chain of defensive works, commanding the two approaches to Awamutu and Rangiawhia from the Waipa (our base of operations), the others being Paterangi and Ngapo. The better to understand tlieir connexion, therefore, and the importance of a combined movement which would embrace them all, we may state that Pikopiko and Paterangi would form the base of a triangle, lookiug at them from Pironghia, on the Waipa, and Ngapo would be the apex If, therefore, a landing be made further up the river, the army would still encounter the formidable works of- Ngapo and Paterangi, as both upper and lower tracks meet at the Paterangi hill. From thence the tracks unite. Turning the rear of either position, therefore, nearest the U aipa, would not open the road into the interior. Isolate Pikopiko, and Patei 1 - angi and Ngapo remain ; isolate Ngapo, and Paterangi and Pikopiko remain, be cause their supplies and communication with the interior would not be citt off But it is not for us to discuss the means by which these places should be taken. The plan of attack, whatever may be determined on, will be doubtless, the best possible under the circumstances. Ngapo is an old pa, which has been newly strengthened, and is the weakest of the three yposts ; Paterangi is likewise also an old pa, and is in a commanding position, about eight’miles from Rangiawhia. A fourth pa, at Rangioatoa or Ruakotara, about four miles from' Rangiawhia. may be included in this line of defences, as the four pas would form a parallelogram, looking at them from Pironghia. But although very strong, and protected by swamps and almost impenetrable scrub extending to thegVXangapiko, it need not necessarily be included in tbfe movement to reduce the three first-mentioned pas. It will be seen, therefore, that the work before General Cameron is the most serious he has yet encountered in this country.-*— Southern Cross, January 27.

OTAGO. The escort on the 12th brought down 1-5,766 ozs. A great Separation meeting was held on the 12tli, at‘ which*'resolutions in favour of an Executive Government for the Middle Island were passed. Pleuro pneumonia had broken out at Taieri and Waikouaitipand also in Southland, to vt'hich it had been brought from Ot.igo. Importation was prohibited from certain ports in Australia. In the Otago Witness of the 3rd, an extract from a letter to Mr. Billon Bell is given, in which Mr. Ward writes that the Intercolonial Company had accepted the eon tract for the Panama mail.

TARANAKI. In the Herald of the 16th is copy of a memorial sent by the inhabitants to His Excellency'the Governor setting forth the injury clone to them by the delay in making compensation, and praying that “ their claims should be at once and finally determined and a .certificate issued to each claimant of the amount due to him, bearing the rate of interest now allowed on the balance of Mr. Commissioner Sewell’s award.” The Herald , in answer to the complaints made as to the conduct of the war points ont the different position of Taranaki now, from that in which it was during the former war. The town was then so closely hemmed in, that firewood was imported from Auckland. Now large quantities of timber are cut in the bush, sheep are looked after, and many hundred acres of thistles have been cut down ; while the natives who wish to pass northward, instead oftakiug a direct' road of 15 miles across the settlers’ land, go by a round about route of 100 miles. SKIRMISH AT SENTRY HILL. ■ Intelligence was brought into' Town eaidy on Tuesday morning that there had been some shots exchanged ou the previous day between the occupants of the Mahpetahi blockhouse (Mahau’s people), at the time only two in number, and some of the Malaitawa natives who were driving away cattle. As this was the first time the rebels had attacked any friendly natives, and as it was believed in town (from a misunderstanding of a telegram from Bell Block) that 200 of them had come down to Sentry Hill on Tuesday morning- with the supnosed intention of attacking Mahoetahi, Col. Wariie took out a force of about 250 men to reconnoitre and to relieve Mahau, if attacked. The two companies of Bushrangers being ready, as they were just going to start for a days thistling, were sent on first, Col. Warre following with the troops, who. halted at Bell Block, the Colonel himself, with his staff, coming on. Near the Ninia a bullock, just shot, was discovered by Capt. Mace and the mounted' men who were escorting Mr. Parris, on his way to see Mahau, and when the Bushrangers came up a .few shots were fired at them from Te Puke, at an absurd distance, only one bullet being heard. Subthe natives fired from Sentry Hill, but retreated rapidly towards Manutahi as soon as our men crossed the Mangoraka and were followed up to the Waiongana —but ?# few, as will be seen, remained concealed- in the high fern. When Colonel Warre had tlmsascertained that the threatened attack was imaginary he ordered Capt. Atkinson to retire leisurely, and went himself down.-the. road to Mahoetahi to see Mahau. The Bushrangers retiled by the same road they came, that is, by the lower of the two fords opposite. Kaipakopako, and as tlio rearguard (No 1) .was crossing -the river they saw five natives following only a few hundred yards behind them brandishing their guns and dancing in derision. A few shots were fired and they disappeared, but were evidently not satisfied as they kept hanging about and firing : others were also seen on Sentry Hill ; in all 14. Capt. Atkinson therefore withdrew his main force out of sight but left one section of No. 1 in charge of Ensign McGuinness as an ambush in some bush and high fern on this side of the ford. They had not been there long before six of the natives crossed the river and came coolly" along the road. ' Unfortunately, the rashness of a few men spoilt this part of the business, for they either regardless of Ensign McGuinness’ express injunctions, or from a total misunderstanding . of them, fired before the Maoris were, fairly up, and so they only wounded one or two' instead of killing the whole five. Seai-ch was made for them in vain in the piece of bush on this side of the river where tracks of blood were visible. While this search was going on two of the six were observed going up the other bank about 400 yards off, and three or four well directed shots made them take cover, thus ' cheeking them and allowing time for further operations against them. When Capt. Atkinson found the search on this side useless, he sent a party of No. 2 under Lieut. Jonas across to follow the tracks and search the other bank of the Mangoraka ; and a part of No. 1 under Ensign McGuinness to occupy Sentry Hill, Capt. Webster remaining to guai'd the ford and keep a way of retreat open. This move to Sentry had a double effect, it prevented the arrival of help from Manutahi, and made escape out of the valley of the Mangoraka very difficult as the event proved. For no sooner were Ensign McGuiness and his men well up than they saw two natives leadinga third and making for Manutahi, besides four others, one of whom ran across to the other little hill (Te Tarata) where he was hit and fell. Three or four others fell also one after the other, but one only of the bodies was found and this was brought -away. The others may only have been wounded, but as two guns and cartridge boxes were found in the road, their owners must at least have been badly wounded as a. Maori will never part with his gun while he can carry it. Search was made for them as long as time would “allow, but the fern and tutu were seven or eight feei< high in many'places and so dense that the men in boring through could only see a foot or two on either side of them, so that unless they were actually to stumble over ihe object of their search their labour would be in vain, and, as we said, there , was not time enough'for a systematic search. The native whose body was found HoneteHoro, belonged toto thePuketapa section of the Ngatiawa and was therefore one of Tamihana’s people. It was said that he came down to the Tapuirau pa, where some of his kinsmen live, on

Sunday night to warn them that = t.h e Ngatiruanui were daily expected and that they meant to treat friendly natives as pakehas and kill all they catch ; but this proves to be incorrect. He was one of those who fired into the Mahoetahi blockhouse on Monday when he had his cartridge box shot away. In the last war it was he who fired at and wounded J. Bishop at the Waiwakaiho : indeed he has always been one of the most active of the Mataitawa men in killing and driving off cattle and waylaying single or unarmed, men. ' His career has met wish a very natural close.

On the return of the Bushrangers to Bell Biock CoJouel Warre congratulated them on their success, and they came into town in good spirits having again punished the enemy without suffering themselves.

Since the above was in type information has reached town of the extent of the native loss on this occasion which proves to have been considerable. The following is the list we have received : Hone te Horo, killed Hapeta, dangerously wounded Amina, badly Eruera Kingi, slightly Tawatahi „ Ngoungou „ Pukukaitaro „ Matina „ lhaia Tawiri „ Te Refill „ The last named was wounded .in the shoulder, and it was through him this list was obtained as lift was met ou his way up tn Urenui whither he is going to refit. Another name (Herora) given in a previous account he did not-mention, and we have therefore omitted it.

All of these natives belong to this neighbourhood- Puketapus, and some William King’s people, one (Eruera) his own son. It seems to tie the fate of the royal family to be hit only in one' part, and that rather an undignified one too, but from not being in the habit of using chairs a Maori does not perhaps suffer the same inconvenience that a pakeha would feel under similar circumstances. Eruera Kingi is the third of the name who Inis .suffered in this way, and it is to he hoped the ‘ seat of maud’ is not the same as the reputed ‘seat of honour,’ or the influence .of this great family limy decline. Most of these natives are well known to the settlers. Hapeta was formerly servant to I. N. Watt, Esq, and did not bear character ; one of the guns found was recognised as liis. Arama, on the other hand was a superior native, his chief fault being apparently a taste for fighting. It is said he was wounded six times in the last war. He was wounded also at Mauku where Lieut. Percival was kiljed, and now again here. lhaia Tawiri used to work at Mr. Soiicnm.be’s brewery. Tawatahi was formerly servant to Mr. Richard Brown, and of tlie men who shot him.— TaranaM tteraM,Ji\.rx.'2‘d.