A LETTER FROM THE FRONT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 924, 14 November 1881, Page 2

A LETTER FROM THE FRONT.

' "The following hnsbeen kindly placed at our disposal: " F:Si Parihaka; -November 7,1881. Dear——, No doubt pou expected to hear fjjorti me sooner, but you must know that in camp a fellow's time is not his own, and of.course, my first consideration' was the ""old lady." I was quite satisfied with the barrack-life in .Wellington,''arid passed'the''doctor, easily, leaving the.' Empire City in high spirits and the: steamer. I made up my mind to be Beasiok, and was not.disappointed. We had 'been about three hours out, when I was seized with a sudden desire to know what I had eaten during the day, and rushed to the Bide, I was bad. .Accompanied by a crowd; of sympathising friends in asimilar fix, I passed the time until about B'o'clock' in heaving asd cursing alternately. Thuß engaged I was lying on the main deck, when we shipped a big sea, and I found myself making tracks for the ;b'ulwarks}in something over two feet,of, water. When I rose to my feet I was drenched: to the skin, and we were, all ordered below, as it was very rough.' Down below the scene was beyond description, •I threw myself down on a pile of" swags" and.laid there in my wet clothes, itaxt morning I felt worse than ever, though'l never caught a cold.' Landed withculty at Opunake (it was'' grand"" going' through the surf) we marched—after a short spell-to IMotu; a distance of 10 miles, where we arrived .covered with dust, awfully sunburnt, and the foreheads of some of our men swollen so that their eyes werelalmost closed. We left Eahotu on Saturday at 5 a.m,, and marched to our camp, You of course know all.par-... ticulars of the taking of ffe Whiti and his confederates. We were a reserve. There are about 300 whares in To Whiti'a pah, and about 600 fighting men, and a host of women and : "kids." There are 'J'oti of rumors current in camp as to what will be done with,the pah, but at present no oiie ! knows, On Saturday night one of the out-pickets arrestad a special reporter" who was passing the lines. He was taken to the guards (who had no tent td 'sleep" in), and the poor beggar was kept aittine ' on the damp ground all night. When I saw him in the morning ])e wag making a hole in a tin of salmon, Time is short, so I'll conclude.