A.—No. 1b

Enclosure 3 in No. 5. Minute by Colonel Whitmore. In the Despatch from the Secretary of State to the Governor of New Zealand, No. 12, of the 29th January ultimo, Earl Granville desires to be informed on the following points:— (1.) The limits within which the ap- With reference to the inquiry contained in Lord Granville's prehension of Native disturbances is Despatch, I beg to say that the Native disturbances must be considered to exist ? considered to exist, at all events, within the limits of the localities in which operations have been actually carried on. Therefore, the whole Province of Taranaki, and from the boundary of that Province the district extending thence to the Wanganui Eiver, must be comprehended by such limits. On the East Coast, the northern half of the Province of Hawke's Bay, and the district lying between Hawke's Bay on the one side and the Bay of Plenty on the other, stretching westward to the Lake Taupo, has been the scene of actual hostilities. But tho Waikato District has been necessarily obliged, by the close proximity and the threatening attitude of the King Natives, to remain armed, and consequently caused a considerable demand on the Colonial forces. At Tauranga and at Napier the population has been compelled to stand on the defensive, and to provide for the protection of their homes. Thus it will be seen that in every Province outbreaks havo occurred, and the districts actually occupied by our troops constitute a very considerable portion of the Island. (2.) The number of Maoris in arms On the West Coast, Titokowaru had, after Moturoa, in against the Government during the last November and December last, close upon 800 men. Te twelvemonths? Kooti's force, with which he attacked Poverty Bay, was under 200, but he obtained accessions to his force from the so-called friendly Natives, and from the Uriweras. Several other tribes joined him, and he met with considerable losses, so that it is difficult to fix what may have been his average strength; but, from careful consideration of all the information I can get, I believe he must have had 400 followers irregularly present in his camp, but whom he could, under favourable circumstances, have assembled. Besides his own followers, Te Kooti formed an alliance with the Uriwera tribes, and these can send 300 to 400 men into the field. It is very difficult to state exactly what force of insurgents may be at any particular moment in the field under any Maori leader. The youth of the Hauhau tribes naturally desires to distinguish itself in war, and warriors go and come continually from the neutral, and even (it is said) friendly, tribes to the camp of the insurgents. At least fifteen hundred (1,500) Natives have been in the field, I think, at various points, and being themselves certain of a refuge with the King party in the interior, have been able to threaten at the same time the whole West Coast of the Island, and the line of seaboard from Tauranga to Napier. G. S. Whitmore.

No. 6. Copy of a DESPATCH from Governor Sir G. E. Bowen, G.C.M.G., to the Right Hon. Earl Granville, K.G. (No. 82.) Government House, Wellington, My Lord,— New Zealand, 6th July, 1869. With my Despatch No. 69, of the 19th ultimo, I had the honor to forward the Reports and other documents furnished by my late Constitutional Advisers concerning those points in their management of Native affairs and of the Colonial forces which were commented upon in your Lordship's Despatch No. 30, of the 26th Eebruary ultimo. Eor facility of reference I now annex printed copies of these papers, and solicit for them an attentive perusal. I annex also a Schedule of those Parliamentary Papers (respecting Native affairs, the Colonial forces, and the other subjects to which your Lordship has directed attention) which have been pubHshed since I arrived in NeAV Zealand; and all of which must be already in the Library of the Colonial Office, having been transmitted in due course in pursuance of the Standing Orders of that Department.

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DESPATCHES EROM THE SECRETARY OE STATE