The Expedition in search. of Winiata.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 587, 24 February 1876, Page 3

The Expedition in search. of Winiata.

Aft ire TfeH knew it would do, the reported appearance of WiniaU in a bpat off R»ngitoto tump out to be puro"inoonshine. That Winiata is in hiding in the wild country,, lying off between the Lower Piako and Rangariri, the expedition which left Hamilton on Thursday evening last amply demonstrates ; and there he is likely to remain so long as tbe sympathy of the "natives in that rojgh ' region —a country as wild and impracticable as that of the Uriweras — remains w«bh him. From an intelligent half-caste, who formed one of the expedition, we have received the following I'eliable ac " count of the proceedings from the time tbe party left Tamabere until its return on the Saturday night : " Three Europeans, under command of Constable Haddbok, fully arfned and well moun:ed, left Hamilton for Taraahore on Thursday ' evening about sir o'clock. There (hey were to be reinforced by a similar number of Maoris and half-castes, a'ad as soon as the moon rose — between ten . and eleven o'clock — start for Te Au Waikato. With some little delay Pc Wheoro's men were ready, but it would, as it turned out, have mattered little had they never started at all, for they received positive instructions from that trusty chief not to proceeJ farther than Te-Au-Waikato, and hot 'to interfere with any natives they might come across in their journey. The real scene of operations lay some thirty "miles further on than Te Au, ' so that their company so far was utterly valueless. Fortunately the party at Taindiere were joined by a European thoroughly conversant with M.iori, -md our half-caste informant. Te Au Waikato, a rid* of twenty-five miles, was made by the party during the night, and it was arranged that having- there rested their %ffK and 'theYnse'lves, they 4hduld'make a start so as to reach the imrne'liate neighbourhood of the settlements intended to be searched about nightfall. ' Hero at Te Au they met with a double disappointment, for not only did the men sent with them by Te Wheoro refuse to go further, but tiny' now learned that a'PakehaMaori and a native had left Te Au the prWious day forthe very settlements they were bound for. These circumstances, separately or in cS^ijunctidti, tad 'a suspicious look, but they had nothing to do but' to proceed. The journey led ihem through a wild and desert country, with * bero and there only <i patch of decent land. ' It Was such a spot th°y reached ou Friday night— a green oasis of about an acre in a deaert of wild sterile tracts — where bare <;lay lulls with a growth of Manuka not aix inches high alternated with swamps 11 for 'miles upon miles in every direction. This camping-ground indoed was the only place at which their horses obtained a mouthful of feed from the lime they left 'IVAu till theiv return to it on the homeward journey. The spot w.is a natural basin into which the surface soil from surrounding spurs had collected, was planted in peach' trees aud gi owing luxunaut grass. It had been tiia refuge of the rebels driven out of Waiicato during the war, the desert waste surrounding them being their beat defence. Here the hors°s were tethered and the party rested till an hour before daybreak, when pushing on they managed to reach the outskirt of the settlement of Kangaunu by sunrise, and nufciag their way through the tall m.iue plant* which grew right up to the whares, 'Cirae suddenly upon the native,a'who had just risen. Thoy were met with looks of surprise and astonish went, "Ah! wa ! te Pakeha," and as the" interpreter explained afterwards, by -questions put from one native to another, " What are these pakeha men here for V and answered by the reply ♦' looking perhaps for Wynyard." The interpreter of the party took care to avoid 'showing his knowledge of tho language, but nothing was gathei ed at this tiinG to afford any clue to the object of tKeir search. In less time than it has taken tho reader to get so far the wharei had been entered and searched, no ivsistance beiug offered by the natives. Evory whare and potato house in the wettlement •wus quickly searched, but, as expected, without result, as the natives showed by their manner that they were indifferent to the search —well knowing Winiata was not there. Aft"r five minutes thns spent the party re mounted and spurred on as quickly as possible to the next settlement, which Uy some two miles further on and here they were met with looks of surprise but not of welcome, one scowling savage openly calling out in Miori " Too much tho b — y Pakeha," and " Kapai Winiata." It Whs while searching this settlement that a native lad just arrived having asked the question of the other" natives in Maori " What Are these men here for?" and beiug answered ''looking for VViniata we expect," said *^Why he went away to the bush yesterday with two men." None of the party tad let it be Been that they understood M.iori, but, suspicious that they might do ■80, one of the Maori women here called out ia Mion to the 'boy " to' hold his tongue and 'not talk about things of which he knew nothing." Tun party searched tho settlement thoroughly, add tiien proceeded on to iVi.iinuhe and Atoerangi, both of which settlements were searched, though in the former aut a native was to be seen. Ou 4h ir return they questioned the Maoris juore fully through the interpreter, and the implies though of course guarded a.s implying the presence of Winiata or the face of his ever having been there, showed 'cleariy that the natives warmly .sympathised with him and coidiully hated the Pakeha. Seeing that further search w<?3 useless — that to look for a man hiding in fauch a country would be useless had they a thousand men with whom to conduct the search— 'the party made straight back for Hamilton, at which place they ai rived lato on Saturday nigut, both men and horses fairly jaded. '- From the manner of the natives, from what they overheard said amongst the faatives themselves, as well as from preVioaa information received, they felt f ally

oi't-tain tluit Wim'Tibi; if not then hidden in th^aTfjoiiiiilo; b«sh had been at the settlemeuts uofc long before.* The native lad'B remark at the second aettleineiit visited, and thefacttßatt*omeahadleft.TeAuforthe9Q settlements the day previously to the expiring party, coupled with Ta Whooro's Evident desire to furnish no material assistance while openly professing- much, Was, to say the least of it, very suspicious. The party all concur in saying : tiut the country is such that "Wynyard may remain harboured there for 'years in perfect Safety.'