The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-17 00:00:00

ether of the royal troops or of the natives, con-
ducted as they have been in a country so entirely
unfamiliar as the interior of New Zealand. It
may, however, suffice to say that the Maoris have
taken up a strong position on the bank of a river
thickly covered with scrub and underwood, and that
the front of their position, looking towards the river,
is protected by a number of rifle pits. A hill, or
Mori pah, as it is termed, raises hat:if behind these
pits, and on the side looking from the river addi-
tional defensive works of considerable strength
have been constructed. At every available point,
both around this eminence and on its ridges, rifle
pits have been sunk, and " whares" raised for the
protection of the natives engaged in defending them.
'Together with these works, in themselves suffi-
ciently formidable, the Maoris have also raised
strong pallisades. Such is the nature of the posi-
tion occupied by what may be termed the head-
quarters of the native army, at a place called Mere-
Mere, on the Waite.ko River. The encampment of
the British troops is within cannon-range of the
Maori rifle pits. The proximity to the river of the
position occupied by the natives has afforded an
opportunity to Commander Sullivan of not only
making a reconnaisance with the Avon, a colonial
gunboat, but of inflicting no little damage
on the Maoris with a twelve-pounder Arm-
strong gun with which the Avon is armed ; and
in the event of General Cameron conceiving
himself in a position to carry the Maori pah by
assault he will be enabled to command the co-ope-
ration of this gunboat. The next mail will probably'
acquaint us with the issue of the recent operations.
The force of the regular troops at present iu New
Zealand is comparatively unimportant, but there
can be no doubt that the Governor will have la
his disposal a considerable number of volunteers.
The colonists are alive to the necessity of striking
sach a blow on the present occasion as will deter
the Maoris in future from attempting to revolt.
Large numbers of volunteers were daily arriving at
Auckland when the mail left. They came not only
from the New Zealand settlements but. from Aus-
tralia. Measures have been taken for their imme'
diate organisation, and many have been already ern'
ployed in maintaining the communications between
the several towns in the colony. Independently of
the immense assistance given by these volunteers to
the Government, their attitude cannot but have the
effect of convincing the natives of the madness of
the enterprise which they have undertaken. Tho
calculations of William Kingi, Rewi, Thompson,
and the other chiefs were based, doubtless, upon
the comparative insignificance in point of numbers
of the troops at the disposal of the Government.
But when they find that every ablebodied man in
the colony is up in arms they will see the propriety
of desisting from an unequal struggle. It was im-
possible for the colonists to submit to the outrages
committed, without the slightest provocation, by
the natives, and the result of the present war will
be that such outrages will noZ be committed in
future. The natives have no cause for complaint,
nor can they advance the slightest pretext for the
present attempt to subvert the Colonial Govern-
ment. The entire tendency of British policy in Nov
Zealand for some years past has been to place the
colonial and the aboriginal populations upon the
same footing. Every inducement has been held out
to the natives to accept the British sway, and to
participate in the benefits which are incidental to
it. For some time sanguine expectations were en-
tertained that our policy would be crowned with
success. But those expectations have been disap-
pointed. Again and again the savage nature of the
Maori displays itself, and convinces us of the clan:
culty of the task we have undertaken. But
persuasion fails, force must be employed. We have,
after immense labour, effected a settlement in the
colony of New Zealand. We cannot now leave it
simply because a race of barbarians is unwilling
that we should remain.