Numb. 8.

49

THE
NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
Published by Authority.

WELLINGTON, MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 1866.

Colonial Defence Office,
Wellington, 27th January, 1866.

HIS Excellency the Governor directs the publica-
tion of the following Despatch from Major-
General Chute, commanding Her Majesty's Forces
in New Zealand.

T. M. HAULTAIN.

Head Quarter Camp, near Ketemarai,
15th January, 1866.

SIR,-In continuation of my last report, I have the
honor to acquaint your Excellency that on the 8th
instant the Native Contingent were employed in
destroying the cultivations in the neighbourhood of
Putahi. The unoccupied but extensive settlement of
Oika was also burnt; and on that day 200 men of
the 2nd Battalion 18th and 50th Regiments, under
Major Rocke, who had on the 6th joined the Field
Force from the Patea, returned to that post.

On the 9th instant the Field Force marched at
four a.m., and crossing the Wenuakura and Patea
Rivers, proceeded to Kakaramea and encamped. One
non-commissioned officer and fifteen gunners, with
two six-pounder Armstrong guns, joined the force
from the Patea.

On the 10th armed parties were employed in
reconnoitering the bush near Kakaramea. They
destroyed two deserted villages, but found that no
rebels were located in the neighbourhood, though
the traces of many of them were seen, probably
fugitives from Putaki.

The force marched on the 11th through Mana-
wapou, and encamped at Tangahoe. During the
afternoon, Captain Leach, Deputy Assistant-Adju-
tant-General, with fifty mounted men of the Native
Contingent under Ensign McDonnell, reconnoitered
the country in the direction of Ketemarai, an impor-
tant settlement within the bush, in the vicinity of
which I was informed that there were two or three
strongly fortified positions and most extensive culti-
vations. It is moreover the point at which the track
branches to the north behind Mount Egmont.

On the morning of the 12th I marched the field
force and encamped on the plain, about a mile and a
half from the supposed position of Ketemarai. The
force was augmented on this day by detachments*
under Lieut.-Colonels Butler and Hassard from
Waingongoro and Manawapou. I should here men-
tion that, in pursuance of my general instructions to
officers commanding posts north of the Patea, Lieut.-
Colonel Butler had, on the 6th instant, driven the
rebels from the position of Ketemitea; but, having
only a small force available from his post, was unable
to destroy it. Lieut.-Colonel Hassard had also
patrolled from Manawapou, and destroyed some
villages, but did not see any rebels.

Not having been able to gain any immediate infor-
mation of the exact locality or strength of the rebel
positions in the neighbourhood I sent a party of the
Native Contingent to reconnoitre; and having thus
ascertained that a considerable force of rebel Natives
had collected at Otapawa, a fortified pa five miles to
the north-east of this camp, I determined to attack
it without delay, and accordingly, at 2.30 on the
morning of the 13th, the forcet moved silently to-
wards it. Our route lay along a good bullock track
for two and a half miles, after which it passed through
high fern and scrub along the edge of a broad and
deep valley, into which we descended by a precipifous
declivity, and after crossing two streams, again gained
the high ground by an ascent almost as steep, and
enclosed by thick bush. From the nature of the
ground, I had no opportunity of making a satisfac-
tory reconnaissance; the tops of the whares, however,

• From Waingongoro.-57th Regiment: Officers, 5; non-com-
  missioned officers, 6; rank and file, 120.
  From Manawapou.-57th Regiment: Officers, 4; non-commis-
  sioned officers, 6; rank and file, 120.
  † Royal Artillery-3 six-pounder Armstrong guns, with propor-
  tions of non-commissioned officers and gunners, under
  Lieutenant Carre.
  2nd Battalion 14th Regiment-200 rank and file; under Lieut..
  Colonel Trevor.
  57th Regiment-130 rank and file; under Lieut.-Colonel Buts
  ler.
  Forest Rangers-1 field officer, and 36 of all ranks.
  Native Contingent-200; under Ensign McDonnell.