Sir G. Bowen privately to Lord Granville, who will be pleased to see the complete success of his policy." 1 On April 9 Bowen wrote from the "Lake of Taupo, the centre of the North Island and the heart of the native districts." "Until the last few months," he said, "the chiefs and clans of these central districts (with the single exception of the loyal chief, Poihipi Tukairangi and his followers) were devoted to the so-called Maori King, and were bitterly hostile to the sovereignty of the Queen and to the Colonial Government. age 394 In 1869 they joined Te Kooti , when there was much sharp fighting at Tokano and at other points around the lake, with the Colonial Forces, and with the loyal natives from Wanganui, led by the gallant Te Kepa (Major Kemp). The night before last I slept at Opepe, ten miles from my present quarters, where, in June 1869, a detachment of the Colonial Militia was surprised and cut to pieces by Te Kooti . To-morrow I propose to cross the lake to Tokano, the scene of the fiercely contested battle of October, 1869, but where our late enemies are now assembled to give me an enthusiastic greeting. In the speeches addressed to me this day by the Maori chiefs of Taupo, they assured me that they were entirely satisfied with the policy pursued towards them by myself and by the Colonial Government, and that they are now fully convinced that their true interest is