E.—No. 3a,

Heremia evaded them yesterday, I expect to-day plain and decided answers. I will tell you what that great Chief Renata said about these things at a great meeting held the other day at Ahuriri. Renata said that these were foul deeds, and that the perpetrators of them ought not to go unpunished ; that lie would not allow any one to justify them in his presence ; that he separated himself and his people from such miscreants ; and now I tell you plainly that such deeds bring discredit and disgrace upon the King movement; and that the Queen's Government will not allow parties guilty of such crimes to go unpunished. If such outrages could be perpetrated with impunity, there would soon be no safety for the lives and property of either Maori or Pakeha. The whole Island would soon become a scene of anarchy and bloodshed—would be a prey to bad, lawless, blood-thirsty men. I say, therefore, that in this war the Governor has right and justice on his side, and the Natives wrong and injustice; and be assured that the just cause will prevail. It is to punish these murderers and plunderers; it is to protect the lives and properties, both of white men and Maoris; it is to establish law, order, and peace in the Districts where no law, order, or peace at present exist, that these military preparations have been made, and operations already commenced against the Waikato tribes. And I will not conceal from you, that whatever number of troops and ships of war may be required for this purpose by the Governor, will be readily granted by the Queen. There can and will be no peace, until this rebellion is completely crushed and put down, and for ever extinguished. But some of you have said to me : " There is war at Tataraiinaka—there is war in Waikato, but there is no war here ; ■we have lived with the Pakeha on terms of friendship for more than twenty years ; though there has been war in this Province between certain tribes and the Government, there never has been war between us and the settlers ; why then are you making preparations for war here ; why are you increasing a force of armed men ; why are you arming and training the settlers F It is quite true, my friends, ttiat •we are making these preparations, we are arming and drilling our settlers, we are increasing our Armed Police Force ; and I will tell you why we are taking these measures—not for the purpose of making war, but to prevent war ; in order to preserve peace in this Province ; in order to protect Maori and Pakeha. I do not believe that any Maori of this Province would attack the settlers, and you know that no Pakeha can lift up his hand against you without the certainty of being punished ; but I am not so certain that some of those Natives who are committing murders in other parts of this Island may not some day do the same here in the hope that it may embroil us in war. You know that the Maoris who commit these deeds are above all things anxious to bring about a war here. We are doing our best to prevent them. We are taking the measures I have mentioned as the best means of guarding ourselves against such treacherous attacks, of deterring these bad men from making any attempt to disturb the peace of this part of the Island ; and if any body of our Natives were attacked by these marauders, they would be supported by the whole force of their Pakeha friends. Instead, therefore, of viewing our preparations with suspicion, you ought to regard them with satisfaction. There is one fact, which I only learned yesterday at Waikanae, which you must admit fully justifies us in calling out the Militia, in arming the settlers, and in increasing our Police Force. I allude to the fact, that King Matutaera has written letters to Wi Tako and Heremia calling upon all the King Natives in this Province to rise up in arms. Now what does Matutaera mean by calling upon the Natives to rise 1 There is no other possible meaning than this ; he calls upon you to do what bad Natives are doing in other places—to attack the settlers with whom you boast you have lived in peace for more than twenty years; he calls upon you to plunder and murder your Pakeha friends, against whom you say you have no ground of complaint. If you tell me that 1 am wrong in saying that such is the meaning of Matutaera's letter, then call upon Wi Tako and Heremia to produce and mad the letter; and then this meeting shall decide whether I am right or wrong in saying that the King calls upon you to plunder and massacre the settlers. But if such be the true meaning of Matutaera's letter, then I ask you whether it was for this purpose—with this object, that the King movement was begun ; whether you became adherents of the King in order that you might combine to commit under his guidance the foul deed he has proposed to you 1 I call upon every one of you to give a plain answer to this simple question. If you say, as you have all along said, that your sole object in establishing the King movement, in becoming adherents of the King, was to establish law, order, and peace, then I ask you, whether the King movement has produced these results 1 Who instigated the massacre of the escort at Oakura ? Was it not one of the King's Chiefs ? Who executed that order 1 Were they not followers of the King 1 Who were engaged in the plot to murder all the settlers at Patumahoe ? Were they not Kingites 1 Who within the last two weeks have murdered at Auckland five or six unarmed settlers 1 Did they not call themselves subjects of the King ? And who now calls upon you to rise and plunder and massacre your Pakeha friends 1 Is it not the King, is it not Matutaera himself? Remember this, he who calls upon others to plunder and murder is himself a robber and a murderer. Unless you can disprove these statements, unless you can say no to any one of these questions, then you must admit, that instead of establishing law, order, and peace, the King movement has produced nothing but anarchy and confusion, war and bloodshed. If such be the fruits of the King movement, are you prepared still to support it ? Wi Tako and many others have repeatedly told me, that if it failed to establish law, order, and peace, they would separate themselves from it. I call upon Wi Tako and all who have held the same language to redeem these pledges ; those who approve of the foul deeds I have mentioned ; those who intend to carry out the orders of the King, to plunder and murder, will adhere to Matutaera ; but they must not expect the settlers to regard them as friends, or in any other light than that of men against whom we must ever be on our guard, and against whose treachery we are bound to take every possible precaution. I have spoken thus plainly to you, because I have nothing to conceal, because I am a warm friend of the Natives. I ask you to speak equally plainly and candidly.

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DESPATCHES FROM GOVERNOR SIR G. GREY