E.—No. 4.
The persons who have joined belong exclusively to Mr. J. Clarke's district. In case, however, it may have been omitted, I shall immediately communicate with Mr. Clarke on this subject. I have, <kc, W. B. White, Resident Magistrate. The Honorable Henry Sewell.
No. 10. THE HONORABLE THE NATIVE MINISTER TO CIVIL COMMISSIONER, WAIJIATE. Native Department, Colonial Secretary's Office, Auckland, June ICth, 1862. Sir,— I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of the 5th instant, and to inform you that His Excellency's Advisers entirely approve of the measures taken by you in the disturbance between Te Tirarau and Matin, particularly the substitution of your letter for the Government Proclamation. His Excellency the Governor having already proceeded to Whangarei and the Bay of Islands, with a view to an amicable adjustment of the dispute between the two Chiefs, no further observations are necessary at present. I have, <tc, W. Fox. The Civil Commissioner, Waimate.
No. 11. H. R. AUBREY, R.M., WHANGAREI, TO THE HONORABLE THE ATTORNEY-GEXERAL. Resident Magistrate's Court, Whangarei, 10th May, 18G2. Sir,— I have the honor to inform you that a few days after my return from Auckland, I received the enclosed letter from Manihera, Native Assessor, and acting upon the information it contained, I proceeded to the Waitomotomo, with a view to prevent, if possible, the apparently impending collision between the Natives assembled there under the chief Tirarau, of Wairoa, and his opponent Matiu Te Aranui of Mangakahia. On reaching the place indicated by Manihera in his letter, I found that Tirarau had constructed two pahs there, which he was then surrounding with trenches. All the principal chiefs from Wairoa and Wangarei with their followers were aiding in their work, and among them I noticed Parore, Hori, Kingi Tipene Hari, Taurau, and Manihera's son Renata, Manihera himself had started in the morning for Wangarei, but meeting me on the road, returned at my request. There could not have been less then 120 Natives present, all armed with double or single barrel guns and other weapons, and provided with ammunition, and I was given to understand that more were expected in a few days. At a distance of not more than two hundred yards from Tirarau's entrenchments, Matiu Te Aranui had posted his men, who were employing themselves in a similar manner to those under the command of Tirarau. Both parties were working with their arms within reach, and seemed to view each other with mutual distrust; no shots had however been exchanged, and it appeared to be understood on both sides that hostilities were not to commence until their respective fortifications were completed. As I have reason to believe that the Government are aware of the cause of the quarrel between Tirarau and Matiu Te Aranui, I think it will suffice for me to say that Matiu Te Aranui has established himself on the land in dispute with the intention of retaining possession of it by force if necessary, and Tirarau is equally as determined to drive him off it by the same means. Tirarau's was the strongest party when I was at Waitomotomo, but as Matiu was expecting a reinforcement yesterday, probably at this time there is the same number of men on each side. In the course of the conservation I had with Tirarau, I used every argument that occurred to me to induce him to return home and allow the matter in dispute to be settled by a Runanga to be appointed by His Excellency the Governor, but nothing I could say appeared to make any impression upon him, and he only remarked that when Matiu Te Aranui withdrew his men to Mangakahia, he (Tirarau) would return to the Wairoa, but so long as Matiu remained he would remain also. After my interview with Tirarau, I visited the pah of Matiu Te Aranui, accompanied by Manihera ; the reception, however, that I met with from the Natives assembled there was by no means a cordial one, they appeared sullen and disinclined to answer any of the questions I put to them—Matiu
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