The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 16, 1863.

lution, from the word " valuable," should be
struck out.
The amendment having been seconded,
Mr. BAXTER LANGLEY, a member of the Sewage
of Towns Association;in supporting the original re-
solution, said there was no hostility on the part of
that association towards the Metropolitan Board
of Works, their only object being to thoroughly
ventilate the subject, and to arouse the atteßtion
of the ratepayers to it, as it elected their pockets.
If they took the sewage of London as only worth
nowpaid,Bd. in theH ear pound, or
ohear.)
2d. per ton, that would reduce the local taxation
over the
of
wholeare
what
thaey by
Os .
He complained that the Board of s Wor k had
not
treated the matter exactly as they ought, as they
made a concession of the sewage to a parti • cular
gentleman which they were ultimately obliged to
withdraw, a circumstance calculated
to shake the
confidence of the public in the action of that board
on this question.

Dr. BACHHOFFNER deprecated a personal attack
upon the board, and called Mr. Langley to order.
Mr. D'IFFANGER denied that the proposal for a
concession to the gentleman mentioned had been
approved of by the board, and said that, on the con-
trary, it was, after discussion, rejected.
Mr. LANGLEY contended that, in the first instance
the concession was for all practical purposes granted.
He then replied to the objection that the London
sewage was too diluted to be valuable for manure,
and said he had received a letter stating that near
Watford sewage was used all the year round, and
that it was diluted stilt more before it was applied
to the land. The people who opposed the utilisa-
tion of sewage were, without exception, either arti-
ficial manure manufacturers or persons in their
employ ; and to show that the former had a great
personal interest in the matter, he stated that four
or five firms were realising from the sale of artificial
manure sums unequalled by the incomes of peers of
the realm.

The amendment was then negatived, and the
resolution carried.

Mr. BURTON then moved—" That the agricultural
value of sewage as a manure is only to be correctly
ascertained from the results obtained from those
who have used it for years, not for the purpose of
proving anything, but simply to obtain by its as-
sistance the largest and most profitable return in
their crops. This meeting, therefore, disapproves
of all experiments, no matter by whom conducted,
initiated merely for the purpose of proving or dis-
proving its value."
The resolution, after a few words from the seconder
and Mr. Nicholay, was also carried, and a vote of
thanks to Dr. Brady for presiding concluded the
proceedings.

kau having been determined upon, something induced one
member of the Ministry to altar the whole arrangement,
and to place arms and ammunition in the hands of these
natives. The public feeling, however, was too strong to
permit such an act--looked upon by the people as suicidal
—to be proceeded with ; the naval brigade, who were to pro-
ceed in company with these natives to search for the rebel
canoes, refused to proceed with them if they were armed,
and the matter was finally brought to an issue by an influ-
ential body of citizens waiting upon the Governor to remon-
strate with him upon the impolicy of the act, This led to
the summary disarming of the Maories, who did not appear
much to relish the loss of their Enfield rifles and ammu-
nition.

On the 17th July, the first encounter between the natives
of Waikato and her Mejeety'a forces took place, and curi-
ously enough, two attacks were made on the same day, one
by each party. On the Sunday before General Cameron
had pushed his advanced guard across the Maungatawhiri
Creek, which runs into the Waikato River, and may be said
to be the boundary line between the native and European
country. The advance was not made a day too soon, as it
has since been ascertained that in a few hours, had he de-
layed so long, the natives would have taken up such a posi-
tion as would hays rendered an advance a work of great dif-
ficulty, as the landing on the native side of the Maungata-
whiri Creek is a very difficult and slow undertaking. Hav-
ing crossed the creek, the troops advanced a short distance,
and threw up redoubts on a commanding position. Here
the 14th Regiment were encamped in some force, and on the
morning of the 17th they observed large bodies of natives
advancing as though to attack our position. Col. Austen at
once ordered his men to be in readiness, and was about to
march out and attack them, when Gen. Cameron arrived
from the camp at Poleeno, and having ordered up more troops
to the support of the 14th, advanced along the ranges to
meet the natives. They, however, fell back to a position of
some strength, where they had prepared lines of rifle pits for
their protection ; and it became necessary tostorm the chosen
position which they had carefully selected and fortified some
time before. Having detached a considerable body to cut off
the retreat of the Maories, the General led the remainder—
between 200 and 300 men—against the rifle pits. The ad-
vance was up a rather steep hill-side, and the concealed
enemy saluted our force with a very heavy fire, which for a
moment delayed the advance, but upon the General's tak-
ing the lead in person, the soldiers carried the pits with a
run, and drove the native warriors out of them and over
the crest of the hill. The rout was now complete, and the
two divisions of the military force acting in harmony sue •
ceeded in inflicting a loss which was very heavy, for Maori
warfare, upon the flying natives, who were pursued as far
as another creek, flowing also into the Waikato, called the
Marmarua creek, about six miles from Kohiro, where the
battle took place. The loss sustained by the troops was but
slight, there being only one roan killed and H wounded
upon the field of battle, although one of the wounded has
since died. The genera! had in the field nearly 500 men, but
owing to his being obiiged to detach so large a number to
cut off the retreat of the rebels, not much more than half
of these were ever actually engaged. The Maori force num-
bered nearly 400 men, of whom it is ascertained that about
one-fourth were killed and many wounded. Of the killed
seven or eight were chiefs of distinction, and among them
an uncle of the Maori king. _ _

An attack was made on the same day by another body of
natives, upon an escort of our troops on their way down
from the front to the camp at Drury. When about a quarter
of a mile from any clearing a sudden fire was opened upon
it from both sides by natives concealed in the thick forest,
where it was impossible to see them. Their numbers must
have been large, probably outnumbering that of the escort
of 50 men, as five tc one. The first discharge of the am-
bushed enemy wounded several men and some of the wag
gon horses, so cutting off effectually for the time the van
from the rearguard of the little party. The soldiers at once
endeavoured to reply to the fire, but it was evident that
while at best they could only hope to shoot their assailants
by some fortunate chance, the Maories were marking them
down at their ease. The van, at this time reduced to 10
available men, now began to retreat, and the enemy seeing
this, and thinking to cut them off entirely, attacked them in
force, as many as 60 men joining in the charge. Seeing the
danger, the gallant young officer who ccmmanded gave the
word to fix bayonets and charge; this was done, and the
astonished natives broke and fled once more to the bush.
Captain Ring finally succeeded in withdrawing his men and
convoy to the nearest clearing, and there awaited assistance.
This soon arrived from both sides, as the firing had been
heard both in the direction of the Pokeno and the Drury
camps. Our loss in this engagemeut was four killed and 10
wounded, while, in spite of their generally keeping well
under cover, the loss of the natives is believed to have been
considerably greater.

Although the number of the troops in the provinces is
now considerable, still, from the fact of the southern fron-
tier of Auckland extending over a length of nearly 50 miles,
bounded for the most part by forest country, and so liable
at any moment and in any place to an irruption of natives,
it is evident that a very considerable force must be posted
in various places to prevent the communications from being
cut off and the country ravaged. The settlers are manfully
cluing their part of this work, there being now between
3,000 and 4,000 men of them engaged in various ways in
the protection of the country ; but owing to the fact of the
large number of natives now engaged in the struggle, not
less probably than from 4,000 to 5,000, who have an abso-
lutely free choice of the point of attack, it is evident that
the General has not, nor can have many hundreds of troops
ready to march into Waikato.
Since the two attacks on the 17th no general action, if we
can use the expression, has taken place, although partial
fighting in the forest has been of frequent occurrence. In
these encounters the 18th and 65th Regiments have been
principally engaged, frequently assisted by the Militia and
Volunteers, and in every case our arms have been successful
in putting the natives to flight with lose, upon their own
ground.

These encounters, however, although keeping the enemy
in check, and very useful, as showing the English soldiers
are quite as good as natives, even in the dreaded forest
warfare, have not in any way cleared the forest of these
marauders, who hang upon our flank, and take every op-
portunity of murdering, sometimes with savage barbarity,
any settler or settler's family that may come within their
reach. In this way we regret to say a gentleman named
Cooper was murdered while driving in his cows in his own
field, and the house of Capt. Calvert was attacked by a party
who fired through the wooden partition, killing that gentle-
man's ton, a young man of 18 years of age, before Captain
Calvert succeeded in putting them to flight, which he even-
tually did single-handed, having, it is believed, killed one
and wounded another of his murderous assailants. A man
named Hunt also fell a victim to a large party, who sur-
prised him, in company with three other settlers, cutting
wood at the edge of the forest, His three companions escaped,
but he, having fallen from exhaustion, as he ran, was shot
through the heart by a gun held sa close to his body as to
burn his coat. These outrages will, we fear, never be put a
stop to until some vigorous measures are resorted to ; and,
as we can scarcely make reprisals upon the natives, the only
way open to us seems to be to endeavour by the most active
measures to clear the forest of these marauding bands, and
so drive them back upon the open country on the Waikato,
where the General may deal with them to some purpose.
The plan which naturally suggests itself for curing this cry
ing evil is the old one of having the settlers of each district
formed into corps of forest rangers to scour the woods in
the;r immediate neighbourhood, and allow no native to exist
within their district.

in the steamer Auckland, on the night of Wednesday. The
balance of success is not yet brought to account,
Two divisions of the Auckland Rifles, who, for the last
three weeks, have been rendering good service to their
country in the hour of need, marched into the Albert bar-
racks on the afternoon of the 7th inst. The first division,
commanded by Capt. Derrom, and numbering some 90 rifles,
were the first to make their appearance. They came from
Papakura, and arrived about half-past 4 o'clock. The second
division, under the command of Lieut. Heaphy, numbered
between 30 and 40, and came from Burton's. Their arrival
was somewhat unexpected, otherwise we have little doubt
there would have been a much larger turn out to greet them
after their recent realisation of some of the discomforts re-
sulting from war. The campaigners looked jaded and travel-
stained, after the severe exposure of the past bitter week.
Head-quarters, Queen's Redoubt, Aug. 3, 1863.
To his Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B , &c.
Sir, —I have the honour to inform your Excellency that
on the night of the Ist inst., I left the Queen's Redoubt
with a force of about 700 men, including a party of seamen
and marines of H.M.S. Harrier, for the purpose of recon-
noitring the v►llages of Paparoa and Paparata, where I had
reason to believe that a large body of rebels had collected.
Capt. Sullivan, commanding H.M.S. Harrier, accompanied
the force.

After a fatiguing night march, the last mile of which was
through very high and thick scrub, we reached Paparoa about
daybreak, and found it entirely deserted, though it had evi-
dently been recently occupied, and I have little doubt that
the natives had received some notice of our movements.

After reaching this village we proceeded along a bush
track, which I was afterwards informed led to Haurake,
having missed the track to Paparata. Some natives con-
cealed so far within the bush on our right as to be perfectly
invisible, opened fire on the leading files, and wounded a
soldier of the 12th Regiment. We replied to their fire for
some time, but as, from the character of the bush and scrub
near it, it was impossible to get within reach of them, and I
did not consider it advisable to lose time in searching for a
track, I withdrew the force leisurely, without any attempt
on the part of the natives to follow us.
When we had reached the open ground a large body of
natives came down from the ranges, and joining the party
in the bush, commenced a rapid and continuous fire of mus-
ketry in the most absurd manner, as though they had been
closely engaged with the enemy, although at that time we
must have been fully a mile and a half from them.

The troops returned to the Queen's Redoubt about 3
o'clock in the afternoon, having been under arms since halt-
past 7 the previous evening, and having marched nearly 30
miles.

I have every reason to be satisfied with the cheerful man-
ner in which this arduous duty was performed by the troop.,
and with the conduct of all the officers and men composing
the force, particularly of the detachment of the 12th Regi-
ment, under Major Miller, for the bold and intelligent man-
ner in which they covered the advance over difficult ground.
—I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient humble
servant,

D. A. CAMERON, Lieut.- General.
The Drury correspondent of the .New Zealanler writes :
Monday, Aug, 10.

The natives never now make an appearance in this neigh-
bourhood, and nothing is known as to what has become of
them. There may be a few hundreds in the bush, but be-
fore parties can conjure up thousands they must calculate
what each day's provisions for thousands of Maories would
amount to. _ _

The general has not been down. I believe the corps of
bushrangers goes on very prosperously in its formation.
There is great anxiety in the public mind for some
speedy demonstration; but patience, a little better weather,
and a few more troops, and the thing will be done much
more effectively. Few casual observers can tell the various
difficulties which both our military and militia authorities
have to contend with.

From a private source, the IVeto Zealander learns that
Papihana, of the Nagatihikiro tribe, is again abroad, and his
avowed intentions are not to fight, but to burn and destroy
in the neighbourhood of Auckland. Raglan, it was rumoured,
was to be attacked by the island tribes. From Ka whia we
learn that some of the natives had joined the King move-
ment, and that others were about to do so.

The same paper, of the 11th inst., says :—lt affords us
very much pleasure to apprise our readers and the inhabi-
tants of Auckland in general that Col. Carey, of the 18th
Royal Irish, has been appointed to command the garrison
of this city. The gallant colonel yesterday took over the
posts and paid a visit of inspection to the various block-
houses. This is, indeed, a step in the right direction.
The little Avon, it appears, is not to be allowed to ply
peacefully on the waters of the Waikato. The natives have
discovered, no doubt, by this time that she is a very awk-
ward impediment to the passage of their canoes, and have
therefore made their first essay in trying the effect of leaden
bullets on iron plates. On the morning of Thursday last the
Avon left the Bluff on a reconnoitring expedition, and after
proceeding about eight miles up the river, a force supposed
to number about 1,000 natives was seen on the left bank,
The natives immediately opened fire, delivering a succession
of volleys at the steamer, and their bullets flattened on the
sides of the vessel harmlessly enough of course. This hos-
tile demonstration by the rebels was responded to from the
Armstrongs on board, and, in the words of our correspon-
dent, "it is supposed that the enemy must have suffered
very considerably, while on cur side there were no casual-
ties." The Avon made another trip up the river on the
following morning, but no natives were seen.
The following is a list of casualties in the recent engage-
ments with the natives :

Casualties-2d Battalion 14th, Lieutenant. Colonel Aus-
ten severely wounded; privates—Wm Smith, dead; Moses
Burdon, Robert Williamson, Alfred Picton, slightly
wounded; John Ingram, Henry Clarke, severely; James
Gilligan, Patrick Markey, James Tancred, William Mur-
phy, William Cavanagh.

Royal Irish.—No. 1 Company, 925, private John Ewins,
killed; No. 1 Company, 805, private John Hamilton,
wounded severely; No 7 Company, 324, private Thomas
Dunbar, wounded slightly; No. 7 Company, private Con-
roy, wounded slightly.
The officers engaged on this occasion were Lieutenant
Wray, Ensign Jackson, and Ensign Butts, whose assistance,
coupled with the steadiness of the men, merits unqualified
approbation,

French Recognition of the Southern
Confederacy.

(From the New York Times.)

A nice question to settle between the French and
the Confederates, prior to recognition, is that of
slavery. Nearly all the French official and semi•
official writers (which means all the writers in France)
who urge recognition, urge it on the ground that the
Emperor will be able to make the abolition or modi-
fication of slavery a Consequent concomitant or con-
dition of the favour of recognition. Even M. Cheva-
lier, who has taken the boldest stand of any man in
France in favour of recognition, declares that
France will use her influence to bring about the
gradual emancipation of the slaves ; that the eman-
cipation of the blackamoors, the complete abolition
of slavery, will be the work of peace and time, and
that the European Power which shall be the first to
recognise the Confederate States will have the right
to obtain on behalf of the blacks far more than would
the Federal States; and one of his strongest points
against the North is, that the men of the North, if
victorious, would not cut into the quick of the slavery
question, for they would value tod highly the cotton
culture. All this is very cool in the French friends
of the rebels—to propose to knock out and smash
up the corner stone of the celebrated Southern Con-
federacy before acknowledging its existence as a
durable and respectable political edifice.

The rebels have heard the news, and make wry
facts at it. Recognition with abolition as a condi-
tion-precedent is the most horrible thing they have
heard of up to this time. The Richmond Dispatch,
speaking of the matter, says—" It is as well to put
a stop to all calculations of this character at once.
If Napoleon means to interfere with the question of
slavery in any way whatever, or to ask anything
else in consideration of recognition, we can have
nothing to do with him." And the Richmond
_Enquirer (which lately denied our statement that
it was Jeff. Davis's private organ) is equally explicit
in its remonstrances with M. Chevalier and the
Emperor. It says—" This (rebel) Government not
only will not, but cannot, give or offer any sort of
engagement to France or any other Power to make
concessions in favour of the negroes. The whole
subject of the negroes belongs exclusively to the
States, and is outside the power and functions of
the Confederate Government. President Davis and
his ministers not only cannot give any guaranty
on the matter, but cannot so much as listen to one
word about it from any quarter. Now, if the Em-
peror does not know that the negociation here sug-
gested is impossible, then it was Mr. Slidell's duty
to inform him. It seems as if there were a conspi-
racy against us somewhere—a deliberate design to
place us in the position not only of suppliants, but of
Suppliants so beaten, and reduced to such extremity.
that we ale now willing to place the very question
of our social and industrial system (which we would
not suffer our own former Federal Government to
touch) under the feet of a foreign potentate, if he
will only step forward in mercy and save us from
those terrible Yankees. Nothing will serve our
agents in Europe but to invite foreign powers to
sit in judgment upon our uomestic institutions, our
social system, and the whole way of life, and to
pronounce what is to be our walk and conversation
for the future. This will not de, We are not fallen

so low. The Confederacy owes nothing to the
Emperor of the French just yet."

We commend these views to the consideration of
the Emperor and M. Chevalier, If the Confederacy
had its independence to-morrow, and were in
alliance with France, we venture to say there would
at once spring up a bitterer controversy on the
" everlasting negro" question than ever existed be-
tween North and South, and that it would soon
lead to a disruption of the alliance, or to a bloody
war between the allies.