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lowers had been celebrating the marriage
of Ngatuere’s son, and were not in a
sufficient state of sobriety to reason
with. The Superintendent after promising to meet them on Thursday, with
difficulty got away. He met the Natives
at Tuhitarata on Wednesday afternoon.
All the Natives resident in that part of
the valley were present; they did not
muster more than forty-four, of whom only
three were Queenites, a large secession
of the loyal natives to the ranks of the
King having taken place a short time
before—not from any real disaffection
but simply from a fear that the Queen’s
Government was not strong enough to
protect them from the Kingites. The
Superintendent, after receiving the usual
greetings of welcome, opened the proceedings by referring to and reiterating
all he had said at Otaki and Waikanae,
and by distinctly declaring that the time
had come when it was necessary to
establish the Queen’s supremacy, and to
bring all her Majesty’s subjects in obedience to her laws. Mitiaha, Mikahere,
Tamati, Pateroma, and other Chiefs,
while guarding themselves against any
decided expression of opinion with reference to the transactions at Tataramaika
and Waikato, declared they would not
consent to the Armed Defence Force or
troops being sent into the valley—that
while they would not object to the resident settlers being enrolled either as
volunteers or militia, they would not
allow volunteers or militiamen from other
districts to come into the Valley. When
the Superintendent read Matuaere’s and
Ngairo’s letters, they asked how he had
got hold of them, and expressed an unwillingness to discuss them there. The
whole discussion was conducted by the
natives in the most friendly spirit; and
when the meeting broke up, they thanked the Superintendent for his visit. On
the following day (Thursday) at 1 p.m.
the Superintendent reached Greytown,
where he found deputations from Queenites and Kingites asking him to meet
them. He tried hard to get them to
meet together, but each party declared
that if they were brought together they
should finish by fighting. The Superintendent therefore decided upon meeting
the loyal natives first in the schoolroom. The loyal natives form a rather
select body in the Wairarapa district.
The School-room was crowded, not by
natives, but by settlers; there were probably not more than forty natives present.
The Superintendent after explaining the
object of his visit, requested his inter-

preter Mr. Deighton to read his address
to the Natives at Otaki. Ngatuere (who
had a double-barrelled gun in his hands)
Manihera, Ihaia, Wi Waka, and others,
then addressed the meeting. Ngatuere
and Manihera warned the Superintendent against believing one word the
Kingites said. They declared that they
knew that the Kingites would in a
day or two rise and attack the settlers;
that the Loyal Natives were not
safe; that the Superintendent ought to
give them arms and ammunition as well
as the settlers—urged the Superintendent to call out the militia and to send the
Defence Force and troops at once into
the valley. Ihaia and others protested
against the impertinence of the Kingites
in presuming to dictate to the Queen
what she should or should not do in her
own land—asserted their loyalty and
their determination to stand by the
settlers. The Superintendent, after expressing his gratification at the sentiments of loyalty they had expressed and
urging them to obey his instructions, replied that his word must ever be one and
the same at all meetings; the Governor
would take whatever measures he deemed
expedient for the protection of the
settlers and Maoris, and for the peace of
Province, without reference either to the
threats or wishes of the Natives. The
meeting broke up at half-past 5 p.m., the
general impression being that the Superintendent’s meeting with the King Natives
would not take place until the following morning, so that many settlers
were unfortunately prevented attending
it. The Superintendent, after sending a
messenger to notify his intention, walked
into the King’s Runanga House at 8
p.m., accompanied by Major Gorton, Mr
Wardell, R.M., Mr S. Deighton, Interpreter, Messrs Kempton, M’Master, and
a few other settlers. They were all most
cordially welcomed. The chief decoration
of the house consisted in some thirty
double-barrelled guns, and one rifle
apparently in a beautiful state of order.
Ngairo, the recognised Chief of the
Kingites and the duly constituted Lieutenant of Matutaere, after a few complimentary expressions, called upon the
Superintendent to begin. His Honor,
after stating the grounds upon which he
claimed their confidence, briefly repeated
the statements he had made at Otaki; called
upon them to answer the questions he
had put to Wi Tako and others, and to
which no answer had been given; pointed
out that the result of the King Movement had been war and bloodshed, and