26

To His Excellency New Plymouth, January 6, 1855. The Officer administering The Government of New Zealand. May it please your Excellency, inl,abita,,t! of lhe p ">™» °r „..i k,ely ihe —»' I hat a large armed force is reported to have left, Wellino-fnn fx,of avenging the murder of Rawiri Waiana and those and that there is every probability of a sanguinary encountertokinrpkce in he immediate vicinity of the Bell Block, whereby the lives and nronrnv of thl settlers in that district will be endangered That so long as the native quarrels were confined to those tribes with whom the settlers have hitherto lived in unterrupted friendly relation, your memorialists were under no apprehension of becoming involved therein, but since distant tribes have made this province the scene of warfare, your memorialists have no sufficient guarantee that life and property will be respected by them. That very recently a considerable armed body of southern natives attacked some of our friendly natives residing at Waitara and although repulsed with sovere loss they will most probably return with large reinforcements and seek revenge. That in such case they will be joined by all the disaffected natives and those opposed to the sale of land and will greatly outnumber the well disposed tribes. That the friendly natives will, in the event of an attack being made upon them, retreat on the town for protection, when, if pursued, the loss of life will be fearful to contemplate. That in the absence of any organised force, proper arms and amunition, or any safe place of refuge to which the women and children might retire, should any sudden attack be made by the natives, your memorialists are reluctantly induced to solicit military protection and earnestly desire to impress upon your Excellency that prompt and energetic measures will not only avert much bloodshed amongst the natives, but likewise to prove to them that her Majesty's subjects, however isolated, will be efficiently protected in the hour of danger. And your memorialists will ever pray, &c., &c. (Signed) G. T. B. Kingdom Henry Gorett H. Halse and 49 other signatures.

To His Excellency Colonel Robert Henry Wynyard, C. 8., Officer Administering ther Governmnet, and Commander in Chief of the Island of New Zealand, &c., &c. The humble memorial of the undersigned inhabitants of the settlement of New Plymouth, in the province of New Plymouth, Sheweth That your memoralists view with the greatest alarm the lawless condition of the native inhabitants of this province since the slaughter of Rawiri and his followers, by Katatore, That the natives are well armed and amply supplied with powder and ball and they greatly outnumber the white population, and that in many recent instances they have shown an utter disregard for the British authority.