Our Maori Allies.—the Kupapas.

(C, referred to at page 16.)

The Evening (New Zealand) Herald of the llth November, has the following:—"The Kupapas have turned out, as we prophesied, a miserable failure. They will boast, and clamour, and consume, but they will not fight. They get 3s. 6d. a day and rations, and are worse than a flock of sheep in the presence of the enemy. They cannot be depended upon, and they embarrass the movements of the regular troops. Old men and boys have been assisting to swallow up the revenue, and they have given nothing in return but trouble and annoyance. Their behaviour at Moturos, with the exception of Kemp and his 70 men, was disgraceful in the extreme, and contributed to defeat. Hunia and his men bolted. Out of 470 men and boys, 400 page 27 were rank cowards. We made a grand mistake in employing them, and, if we allow them to retain their arms after they are dismissed, they will show themselves at once our masters. The British prestige will have become a shadow if we are to be driven back by the Hau-haus, and dictated to by the friend lies. It is time that the Government looked in some other direction for the means of finishing the war than in that of the friendly Maories. The great mistake all along has been to arm natives at all; but it is never too late to mend, and after disarming the Kupapas let them be sent to their respective villages."