A.—No. 4.

Enclosure 1 in No. 2. Copy of a Letter from Lieutenant Biaei: to Major Noaee. Sib,— Waihi, 27th October, 1569. I have to report, for your information, that I left Waihi at 6.45 a.m. this morning, with Lieutenant Maka, Ensign Aropeta, and thirty-six Whanau Apanui, Captain Piniamino, and nine Ngatiporou, for the purpose of scouting up General Chute's track to the Waitara. Eeached Araukuku at 8.20 a.m. by a good dray-track from "Waihi; this place is about two and a half miles in from edge of the bush ; here wo saw several large clearings of potatoes ; drays may be got to within a quarter of a mile of these. Natives propose taking up these potatoes, if they can get drays to cart them to Waihi. On getting to the Eori at 8.55 a.m. we turned off on a path leading to a kainga named Ngapahi. When within 300 yards of this place I heard shots fired by the scouts in advance; on coming up to these I found they had shot two Hauhaus—Wikiriwhi and Hami—and caught an old woman. Wikiriwhi had a good double-barrelled gun and a pouch full of ammunition; two women, a child, and three men got away. Aropeta says that these two would not have been shot but for their attempting to escape. These people had about three acres newly planted with potatoes. We burnt thirteen whares. Araukuku is about four and a half miles from Waihi, Te Eori about six miles, and Ngapuhi seven miles. The woman taken prisoner says that Titokowaru is preparing to come this way in December, and that ho has plenty of ammunition. The people that were in Mawhitiwhiti were taken away by Titokowaru about the end of September, 1869. I have, &c, Major Noake, Commanding Wanganui and E. T. Blake, Lieut., Patea Militia District. Commanding No. 9 Div. A.C. P.S.—The three men that escaped were armed with double-barrelled guns ; one of the two men was shot by Pini Pururangi, and the other by Wi Patene. M. Noake.

Enclosure 2 in No. 2. Copy of a Letter from Captain Keels to Major Noake. Sib,— Wereroa, 19th November, 1869. I have the honor to report that I proceeded up the Waitotara River, in two canoes, at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the 16th instant, in command of force as per margin,* and reached Pourakou at 3 p.m., where I stopped all night, after ten hours' hard pulling, and an hour's rest for refreshments. I started again next morning at 3.30 o'clock, and reached Perounui as 2 p.m., after stopping upwards of two hours at the kainga and calling at several other places on the way. I returned to the kainga the same evening at 7.30 o'clock, and camped for the night. I left the canoes at a bend of the river about a mile below Perounui, and I went inland through the bush, so as to cut oft the retreat of the outlaws by land, if there were any at the settlement. I found the place unoccupied, but I saw signs of native cultivation on the opposite side of the river, and on going over I found about twenty kits of seed potatoes, about a quarter of an acre of taro planted, and a considerable extent of ground ready for planting, and I also found footmarks and other signs that the Natives had but just quitted the place. On going up a creek opposite Perounui, in company with four men, I came suddenly in sight of two Natives, a man and a woman, trying to force a canoe over a log up the creek. The man, who is an old rebel named Tukarawa, ran off, and as he was getting out of sight into the bush he was fired upon and fell wounded. I sent one of the party back for a doctor for him, and I proceeded on up the creek, believing that other outlaws were trying to escape in that direction. When I returned to where I left the wounded man, I found that he had made his escape into the bush close by before the doctor arrived. I regret that the man escaped, but when I left him I thought he was too badly wounded to get away, and I was anxious to secure others if possible. The woman I brought with me, and I will send her to town by the first conveyance. I found two canoes at Perounui, and from the circumstances I judged that there was a number of Natives in the neighbourhood, and it made me more anxious to secure the wounded Native, dead or alive, to prevent his carrying intelligence. One of the canoes is a new one, and capable of carrying fourteen men; and the other is only an old one, but capable of carrying eight men. I brought both canoes home with me. On my way up the river I found seven whares erected at a clearing above Pourakou, and seven kits of potatoes. The whares were capable of accommodating about fifty adult people. I found twenty whares erected at a place the name of which I do not know, between Pourakou and the kainga, capable of affording accommodation to upwards of a hundred men, but no sign of cultivation. I found twelve whares at the kainga, capable of affording accommodation to a hundred men. The whares were all of a temporary construction, but substantial of the kind, and apparently, to me, erected for the temporary accommodation of the inhabitants on their return to the river, or for the accommodation of persons coming to cultivate. I found no ground ready for cultivation anywhere except at Porounui, and here there were no whares at all erected, and so I concluded that the Natives came from a distance in canoes to cultivate. I concluded that the Natives came by canoes because there were no regular or indeed any other tracks leading from the clearings inland. I destroyed the whole of the seed potatoes and most of the taro cultivation found at Porounui before leaving that place, and I destroyed the whares at the different places and the seed potatoes at Pourakou on my way down from * 1 sergeant, 14 rant and file, Veteran Volunteers; 1 constable, Armed Constabulary.

10

PAPERS RELATIVE TO