A.—No. 1.

force of Armed Constabulary to above 2,000 men. It will be recollected that the army of 10,000 regular troops, recently maintained in New Zealand, in addition to the Colonial forces, failed to reduce the hostile Maoris to submission. It cannot, of course, be expected that the raw and ill-provided Colonial levies should succeed in accomplishing the work which was not achieved by a much larger number of regular troops, amply furnished with all the means and appliances of modern warfare. 3. Personally, I am inclined to agree with those who argue that an army of 10,000 Imperial troops should not have been sent to New Zealand; but that, having been sent, it should not hare been removed before the Queen's authority had been established throughout the country. It is believed that the invasion of the Waikato in 1863 by General Cameron's army aroused the national hatred of the Maoris, while the withdrawal of that army, before a single leading chief or tribe that had been in arms against the Crown had formally tendered submission, went far to excite the national contempt of the Maoris. To refer to a somewhat analogous example : it has been asked what would have been the result in India, if Lord Clyde's army had been finally withdrawn from Oude before any one of the Talookdars or Native chiefs, who besieged our garrison at Lucknow, had been reduced to submission ? G. F, BOWEN.

Enclosure 1 in No. 26. Memorandum: by Mr. Eichmoxh. Wellington, 12th March, 1869. The following notes on the condition of Native Affairs, are submitted in continuation of similar Memoranda already .furnished at His Excellency's desire. During the past two months, three great strongholds of the Hsuhau chief's have fallen into the hands of the Colonial forces. On the East Coast, Ngatapa, the hill fortress of Te Kooti, was reduced by Colonel Whitmore on the sth of January; and on the 3rd of February, the stronghold of Titokowaru on the West Coast, near Nukumaru, called Taurangaika, was abandoned by its garrison before the advance of the same officer. Proceeding onwards, Colonel Whitmore destroyed the pa at Moturoa, which had also been deserted. I Notwithstanding these reverses, the animosity of the violent Hauhaus has been little checked. Within a month of the fall of Xgatapa, and the destruction of a very large proportion of its garrison, Te Kooti reappeared with the remnant of his band at Waimana, or Waioeka, near Opotiki; where he has been joined by a few more allies, and now threatens the settlements on the Bay of Plenty. On the West, Titokowaru, though unable to hold his pas, and pursued by Colonel Whitmore in the forest, has continued his resistance, laving ambuscades and cutting off stragglers. Another tribe has moreover commenced active hostilities at Taranaki. A party of the Ngatimaniapoto, a tribe bordering on that settlement, whose lands have not been invaded or confiscated, have come down to the frontier and murdered eight persons. Among them were Mr. Whitely, a venerable Wesleyan missionary, one woman, and three children. The majority of the Xgatimaniapoto, whose territory stretches from the coast to the Waipa River, have always belonged to the violent section of the King party, and have resolutely opposed the pacific policy of the King, whose authority and influence have barely sufficed to restrain them hitherto. There is reason to believe that the recent outrage was perpetrated with the deliberate purpose of forcing on a general struggle between the King Natives and the Colonists, and of preventing overtures of peace winch it was believed Tawhiao intended shortly to have made. The news of the Taranaki massacre was immediately followed by menaces to the Waikato settlements, aud active preparations have been made to meet the impending attack. A gathering of tribes is probably at this moment taking place at Taupo ; the avowed object of which is to determine the question of peace or general war. The tribes now friendly to the Colony have had notice to declare their sides on this occasion. It is reported, but not on absolutely good authority, that the Taranaki massacre lias induced the King to discourage this gathering, which may therefore break up without resolving on anything. Amidst these continued outrages and alarms, which are paralyzing the industry of large districts, the consideration which has led the Imperial Government to delay the removal of the 18th Eegiment and the national flag from these shores is appreciated by the Colony, and will increase the loyalty and cordiality of the reception which awaits His lioyal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. Other circumstances of special Imperial interest, which for the moment connect themselves with Native troubles, make the temporary retention of the 18th Eegiment desirable. Within the last month it has been discovered that there exists amongst the diggers in the Auckland G-old Fields a branch of the Fenian organization. Persons in that connection have made treasonable overtures to the Hauhau proprietors of some lands reported to be auriferous, with a view of obtaining a monopoly of gold mining thereon. These persons have informed the hostile natives that they are neither English nor Scotch, but inhabitants of another island ; that they belong to the party who in Sydney shot the Duke of Edinburgh ; that like the Maori they hate the British rule, and are prepared to make common cause with King and Hauhau to overthrow that rule in New Zealand. It is said, on reliable authority, that a person wearing a uniform with I.E. on the buttons, and a green sash, had sent a present of money and a flag to Tawhiao.

59

ZEALAND TO THE SECRETARY OE STATE.