The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-16 00:00:00

TILE KAFIR WAR.

Cape of Good Hope papers to the 24th of June in-
clusive have just arrived, which put us in possession
of four days' later news from the scene of war. The
information conveyed is brief, but important, as it
shows that no more fighting had taken place at Fort
Peddie or its neighbourhood, nor indeed was any
serious engagement expected. Reinforcements
were arriving, and the Governor-General was only
waiting the concentration of all the Burgher forces,
when he intended promptly to act on the offensive,
the result of which, we trust, will be the complete
subjugation of the Kafir tribes.

.From the South African Cenunercial Advertiser, of

June 24.)
Last frontier post, which arrived on Monday after-
noon, brings nothing new of any consequence. Another
detachment of waggons had been passed safely through
Trompetter's Drift to Fort Peddie, and there seems to
have been no more fighting in that quarter. It is stated
that 3,500 Burghers from the western districts have
crossed the Gamptoos river; 200 of these, with their
wagg ns, arrived in Graham's Town on Sunday, the
14th inst. Commandant Linde, with 400 Swellendam
Burghers and 200 Hottentots, marched forward from
Uttenhage on the previous Wednesday. Four hundred
Worcester Burghers, under 1)u Tait, with several other
parties, had reached Uitenhage. Thus, in a few weeks
more, the colonial forces, of all sorts, will be ready to
enter on the real business of the campaign.
In the mean time, though the Kafirs have disap-
peared from the neighbourhood of the villages and
" legers" on the immediate frontier, parties of ma-
rauders are found as far down as Uitenhage, in search
of cattle nearly a hundred miles from their own border.
The following extract from a private letter gives a
lively idea of the service in which the Burghers and
troops will be engaged, probably for some months to
come :

" Camp Uitenhege, June 16, 1846.
" I mentioned in my last that the Kafirs had stolen
300 head of cattle within half an hour of this, and that
Commandant Du Toit, of the Worcester Burghers, had
gone in pursuit. lle was fortunate enough in overtaking
the rascals at Pheasant Drift, on the Sunday River, and
shot all they saw, viz., 11, and recaptured the cattle.
Du Toit behaved nobly, shooting two himself, but I
regret that one of his men was killed by an assegai.
One Kafir got into the river and covered his head with
reeds, to make it appear that he was a bush. Young
Du Toit, however, saw his head, fired, and shot him
through the head. They took several assegais, and
two muskets, which were loaded. Both these were
pointed at Du Toit, but flashed in the pan. They also
took three horses.

" The weather continues very warm during the day,
and cold at night. No rain, however.
_ _ .

"1i th Jun—e.—An Aide has just arrived from
Graham's Town with a requisition to press 'all oxen
and waggons to convey provisions from Algoa Bay to
Graham's Town, as they are very badly off there. They
have in consequence taken our oxen, and how long we
shall remain here it is impossible to say. Our horses
get only 12lb. of oat hay per diem. I have been obliged
to buy forage and feed my horse up a little, for there is
not a blade of grass where our camp is."
Nothing seems to be publicly known respecting the
movements or intentions of the Kafirs. If they ever
meditated an attack on the colony in overwhelming
numbers, as some have supposed, they have lost their
opportunity. Such men as Alacomo, Botraa, or Stock,
who have known the colony, and the power it can in no
long time bring to bear upon them, must begin to be
sensible that they are in the very jaws of destruction.
The sparse and scattered population of the immediate
frontier, with some 1,500 soldiers, have, in effect, re-
pulsed their whole force as invaders. Though cattle
have been captured, the loss of men on the Kafir side,
compared with that of the colonists and troops, cannot
but be felt by them as a decisive proof of their utter in-
capacity to continue the contest on anything like equal
terms. What then can they expect now that the number
of effective military is more than doubled on their front,
while the frontier colonists have been reinforced by five
or six thousand men from the rear ? The 3 trust, no
doubt, to the bush, or the ravines and thickets of their
country, but in the winter even this resource tails them,
for in the months of July and August the cold and rain
on the mountains are fatal to their cattle, and the plains
will be occupieCt or commanded by the troops and Burghers.
Nothing further is known respecting the designs of
Creili or of. the Tunibuokies. If they mean mischief,
they are :lot in a hurry.—HeraM.

STATE AND PROSPECTS OF
NEW ZEALAND.

The following are extracts from an important and very
lengthy petition (just printed by order of the House of
Commons) present( d by Mr. Charles Buller, from inha-
bitants of the settlements of Wellington, Nelson, New
Plymouth, and Wanganui, in the colony of New Zt aland
" That it is with sincere regret your petitioners ft' el
themselves under the necessity of anxiously soliciting
the attention of your Honourable House to the state of
affairs in this colony.

" That those affaTrs are in such a condition that, if not
speedily remedied, the result must be general ruin. That
the Culonial Treasury is encumbered with debt; the re-
venue rapidly diminishing, the currency deranged and
vitiated. That all commercial and agricultural opera•
tions are checked and impeded, suspended or abandoned;
and the colonists reduced in numbers and in wealth.
That public confidence in the local government is utterly
destroyed; and there exists no adequate security for pro-
perty or life; and that the European and native races of
the country are on the verge of warfare, which in one
quarter hes actually and disastrously commenced, and
which the slightest accident or imprudence may render
as general us it would certainly be sanguinary.
" That, in the opinion of your petitioners, the imme-
diate causes of this lamentable state of things are to be
found in the erroneous policy adopted and pursued by
the present local government."
[Then follows a very elaborate and full account of the
proceedings in the colony since 1842. The petition to-
wards its conclusion proceeds thus] :
"Reviewing the whole policy and proceedings of Cap-
tain Fitzroy since his assumption of the government: re•
membering the evident prepossession of his mind by one
fixed and erroneous idea of the character of the natives
and one theory of governing them: the utter ignorance
of human nature betrayed by his adoption of this theory
and his mode of carrying it out: the want of judgment,
infirmity of purpose, and inability to profit by the expe-
rience of his predecessors or his own; displayed particu-
larly in his unfortunate lenity, towards Iloni Heki, after
the many proofs that had been given of its effects upon
other natives; in his allowing that disturber to escape
unpunished after so much display of force and of inten-
tion to use it; in the miserable collision about the sur-
render of the muskets; in the repetition at the second
attack upon 'lckes pa of the errors which caused the
first, to fail; and in his ultimate conclusion o a truce
with the rebels: considering further his many impolitic,
rash, inconsistent, and unnecessary declarations ; such
as his pledging himself to resign rather than use force
in any case • or as his solemn recommendation of Mr.
Spain and his court at Waikanai and pledge to enforce
his decisions, one of the most important of which he pre-
sently and so uncerimoniously overthrew at Taranaki,
and at last sweepingly conch mned the court itself (after
having, in spite of the agreements at home and its ill
effects out here, so long persisted in upholding it), in
the words, The plan was wrong from the first on
which these claims have been settled :' recollecting
moreover his continual disregard of the letter or spirit of
his instructions, as in the cases of the first D€ benture
Bills, and of those on the company's stoppage : of the
establishment of a militia force ; and of the waiving of
the right of pre-emption ; looking at the fundamental
errors, and the extent and suddenness of the frequent
changes of his financial policy—at his unvarying acri-
mony against the settlers—at his unfortunate selection
of officers and confidential advisers—at his entire subjec-
tion to missionary influence—and at all the ruinous re-
sults of his whole administration of affairs, however oc-
casioned—reflecting upon all these things, and upon the
very critical circumstances of the colony at present,
your petitioners feel it impossible to avoid expressing,
in the most distinct terms, their utter want of confidence
in the ability of Captain Fitzroy or his government suc-
cessfully to encounter the difficulties before them.
" Your petitioners therefore earnestly implore your
Honourable House to interfere, and literally save them
from destruction.. It is undeniable that the forte of