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they could be spared without neglecting their Constabulary duties, and have also given every assistance in conveying mails, collecting agricultural statistics, acting as census enumerators and clerks to Resident Magistrates' Courts, attending, as orderlies, the sitting of the Native Land Courts, and assisting the police when called upon. The following report from Lieut.-Colonel Roberts, commanding the Taranaki District, gives a full account of the circumstances which led to the occupation of Parihaka, and the arrangements he made to effect the arrest of Te Whiti and Tohu :—■ " Sib, —I have the honor, in accordance with instructions received by telegram on the 26th instant from the Hon. Mr. Bryce, Native and Defence Minister, to submit the following report on Native affairs in this district for a few months preceding the occupation of Parihaka, and to the present time. " On the 29th July, 1881, the Maoris recommenced obstructive measures by stopping the erection of a bridge across the Kapoaiaia River, at which place about one hundred Maoris assembled, thirty of whom re-erected the fence across the bridge site, and threatened to destroy the bridge timber should the work be continued there. The bridge was, eventually, built further up the river. " In August the Maoris went to work clearing, fencing, and cultivating in the most independent manner throughout the surveyed blocks, without noticing or making any distinction between the land which they were permitted to cultivate and the Crown lands sold or surveyed for sale. . During the same month they were warned to discontinue working on land not set apart for them; but in every instance they persisted, notwithstanding the efforts and offers made to show them by maps, and on the ground, the land they would be allowed to cultivate. The general answer was, 'The land has been set apart by Te Whiti for us : go and talk to him.' " In September the strength of the obstructionists was greatly increased, and they worked in large parties with great determination, and re-erected the fences as often as the Constabulary removed them, and actually used for tying up their fences stolen telegraph wire ; and when repeatedly told that they must stop work, as they were not on land reserved for them, replied, ' Take your talk inland to Te Whiti and Tohu. You had better go and talk at Parihaka.' On another occasion, when a Native was spoken to, he replied that Te Whiti and Tohu had sent him and his companions there to work, and that they did did not understand how to listen to the words of the Government; and recommended us to go and. talk at Parihaka, where alone things could be settled, and that he could not act on our instructions to leave off work. " On the 10th September Natives carried away fencing material belonging to Mr. Dalzell, a settler occupying a deferred-payment section near Pungarehu. Another settler, Mr. Burgess, had his fence broken by the same party. Mr. Burgess subsequently removed his family to New Plymouth, owing to the unsettled state of the district. " On the 12th September a small mounted party of Armed Constabulary, under Major Tuke, Mr. Hursthouse acting as interpreter, went to remove a fence. On their leaving the ground, about forty Natives came towards the clearing, and, as Major Tuke and party moved away, they commenced to rebuild the fence, and called out, ' You are afraid to come here now,' and made use of very abusive language. On the same day a Constabulary firewood party was prevented from bringing wood to the camp by the Natives taking charge of the dray, and throwing the wood off, directing the party not to return. This happened at the same place where the Maoris had abused Major Tuke and party. " On the 15th September I started from the camp at Pungarehu, with two mounted orderlies, for the purpose of inspecting the different encroachments made by the Maoris. Immediately on leaving I noticed several mounted Maoris going in different directions, and by the time I had reached a certain clearing I was followed by about sixteen mounted Maoris and about eighty on foot. I inquired of one of them why they were following; he said that he was very angry, and that I was not to cut the fence. I then rode on to another clearing, followed by nine mounted Maoris. Almost immediately on arriving there the orderlies called out, 'The Maoris are coming.' I then noticed about fifty of them advancing towards the opening of the cultivation. Several of them were stripped, and all were armed with taialms or sticks, and evidently intended to attack us. The apparent leader stood close by the track we left by, stripped and armed with a taiaha, standing in a fighting attitude. lam convinced, from all the circumstances which took place, and from my experience of Natives, that if we had not been armed we should have been attacked. After this the position was so serious that the force at command was considered sufficient to continue active measures without risking a serious collision, which appeared inevitable. No measures, therefore, were taken to stop the work already referred to until after the occupation of Parihaka. " On the 16th September information was received, through a prominent Native, that Te Whiti had directed the returned prisoners to resist the removal of the fences. On the 17th Te Whiti made a speech of a very aggressive nature. " In October information was again received that Te Whiti had instructed the Natives to resist the removal of fences, and, should a Maori be killed in the scuffle, they were to kill a pakeha; and, should we make prisoners, they were to do the same. During the same month about fifty Maoris assembled on land belonging to Mr. Fleming, a settler near Cape Egmont lighthouse, while he was fencing on his land, and told him to leave off, at the same time carrying away the fencing material with the exception of some heavy posts, which they cut in two. -On a subsequent occasion Mr. Fleming was molested, and before a force could be got on the ground the Natives had retired. The district by this time was in a very unsettled state. The Maoris carried out their designs unhesitatingly, irrespective of all warning to the contrary. I have no doubt that, if they had been opposed before a sufficient force was collected, the every-day occurrence of removing and re-erecting fences would have in a short time brought about a serious struggle, the consequence of which no one could predict. " The Constabulary Field Force was rapidly recruited, drilled, and made ready for any emergency, and a force of Volunteers collected from various parts of the country, and it was decided to occupy Parihaka and disperse the assembly of Natives there. Accordingly, preparations having been completed and all details arranged by the night of the 4th November, the troops marched on Parihaka on the morning of the sth. The march was conducted in two columns. The Volunteers, under command