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No. 50.
Copy or a Despatch from
Governor Sir G. F. Bowen, G.C.M.G., to the Right Hon. Earl Granville, K. G.
Present State of the Colony.
Government House, Auckland, N.Z.,
4th June, 1870.
My Lord;—
Mr. McLean, the Minister for Defence and Native Affairs, left Auckland for Napier and Wellington last week, and I have not any memorandum from him, showing the recent progress of events, to transmit by this month's mail.
| 2. | There is, however, nothing new of particular moment to report. The entire colony continues tranquil, with the exception of that portion of the North Island, near the East Cape, where Te Kooti still maintains himself, with a small band of followers, in the recesses of the Urewera Mountains, which are almost impenetrable in this season, the winter of the Southern Hemisphere. In addition to the men he lost in the fights at Maraetai and elsewhere, a considerable number of his former adherents have surrendered to the Government. He is watched, and, when possible, will be followed up, by the chief Ropata and the loyal Ngatiporou Tribe. Te Kepa (Major Kemp) and the Whanganuis have been conveyed to their homes on the West Coast for the winter, by sea from Opotiki, as they required rest after their long and toilsome march across the Island —but their services, as also those of the Arawa, will again be available when required; and it will be seen, from the official report of my recent visit to the North, that the chiefs of the Ngapuhis, the most powerful tribe in New Zealand, also repudiated all sympathy with Tawhiao, the so-called "King of the Waikatos;" assured me and Mr. McLean of their continued loyalty to the Queen, and of their good-will towards their colonial fellow-subjects and stated that "after peace has been made with Matutaera (i.e., Tawhiao), if he attempts to break that peace, the only feeling of Ngapuhi, in the event of such violation of peace, would be to go in a body and fight on behalf of the Government." |
| 3. | I have mentioned, on more than one occasion, that the leading men of all parties here appear to be in favour of the policy described in my despatch of 7th December, 1868, as a "peaceful arrangement, not inconsistent with the sovereignty of the Queen," with the so-called "King party." Such an arrangement was virtually, though not informal terms, made by Mr. McLean in last November, when he held a conference with Tamati Ngapora, Rewi Maniapoto, and other principal councillors and adherents of Tawhiao. It is generally believed here that any concession beyond an accommodation of this kind would be neither desirable nor indeed practicable, as it would be opposed to the opinions and feelings alike of the colonists and of the loyal Maori tribes. |
I have, &c.,
G. F. Bowen.
The Right Hon. Earl Granville; K.G.