The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-22 00:00:00

THE 'VAR IN NEW ZEALAND.

The accounts of the war in New Zealand by the Times
correspondent are not so satisfactory as those received
from other sources. The rebellion still continues, and
though confidence is expressed iu its ultimate sup-
pression by the colonists, the waste of life and
treasure and the hindrance to the progress of
the colony are severely felt. The capture of
Ngatapa, indeed, has produced good effects on the east
coast, and there are hopes that confidence may shortly be
restored in that part. It was reported that Te Kooti, for
whose apprehension £I,COO was offered, had died of his
wounds ; but little credence is given to the
rumour. It is thought more likely that he
has succeeded in eluding his pursuers. On the
west coast a success, though not a very brilliant
one, has been achieved. The colonial forces, under the
command of Colonel Whitmore, attacked Tito Kowaru
in a pah at Nukumaru. The pah was shelled
for twenty-fours hours, and at the first favour.
able opportunity the walls were scaled. Great things were
expected from this victory, but the hopes of the con-
querors were speedily overthrown. The same mortifying
results attended the capture which have followed so many
New Zealand triumihs. The pah was empty. Tito
Kowaru and his followers had made their escape. The
colonists generally were much disappointed at this news,
but no blame is attached to Colonel Whitmore, who
has to contend against great difficulties in the want of
disciplined troops. The men under his command are well
qualified for good and efficient soldiers, but they have had
very slight training, and their commander has no
time to train them. The pah at Nukumaru, which
occasioned so much disappointment, was, unlike
that at Ngatapa, very strongly constructed, though
occupying a weak position. The account of its
construction affords evidence of the ingenuity of the
Maories. It covered between one or two acres, with an
outside palisading fifteen feet high, formed of the trunks
of trees, so close as only to admit a rifle from the men in
the ditch behind it. This ditch was deep and wide,
and the rebels stationed in it could fire at the
advancing troops with impunity. On its inner edge was a
second palisading, and beyond it another ditch, with
underground chambers capable of holding hundreds of
men. These chambers communicated with each other by
corrugated iron-covered ways of great strength. The iron, as
may be supposed, had been part of the plunder of abandoned
homesteads. Besides these biding places, the defenders
of the pah could fire at their assailants from two-storied
erections at the angles. "No troops in the world," said
Colonel Whitmore, " could have hewn their way
through a double row of strong palisades, backed by
rifle pits and flanked by two-story erections, such as
were constructed in this fortification, and defended
by excellent shots and desperate men." The whole of the
west coast rebels were massed in this pah, and it is
therefore the more to be regretted that the old mistake
of leaving one side of the position unoccupied by the
assailants was repeated. A fern ridge at the back was
left unguarded, and the troops were stationed on the
other three sides of the pab. As has often happened before,
the rebels made their escape at the rear, while the
European forces were advancing in front. A pursuit was
attempted, but in vain, and all trace of the rebels has been
lost. The colonial troops are nominally in occupation of
the famous Waitotara block which now presents in its
blackened homesteads and desolate aspect a painful con-
trast to its former thriving condition.

A Cabinet Council will be held at the official
residence of the First Lord of tho Treasury, Downing-street
on Saturday.

Mr. Knatehbull-Huges.sen's bill for the establish-
ment of county financial boards has been postponed until the
11th of May.

The .return of metropolitan paurerism shows
another increase this we Lk as compared with 1868—namely,
2,400.

The dispute in the building trade comes nearer a
strike each day. The masters wish to have arbitration.
The men refuse.

Two little boys, named Cowans, sons of a poor
widow residing at Cam!noble, were acedentally drowned in
the Clyde a day or two lack, while attempting to wade
across the river at a ford near "Harvey's Dyke."

The editor of the Nouvelle Tribune du Peuple has
been arrested in his house at Brussels for having sent to
one of the men on strike s.teleg.rarn
I:Swage, sargalf,