we do not want them as guards they would be pleasant as companions when
one is going about the place."

A few days after the arrival of two large watch-dogs and of the heavy
shutters and door, Mr. Mitford rode in to The Glade. He chatted for a
few minutes on ordinary subjects, and then Mrs. Renshaw said: "Is
anything the matter, Mr. Mitford? you look more serious than usual."

"I can hardly say that anything is exactly the matter, Mrs. Renshaw; but
I had a batch of newspapers and letters from Wellington this morning,
and they give rather stirring news. The Hau-Haus have come into
collision with us again. You know that a fortnight since we had news
that they had attacked a party of our men under Captain Lloyd and
defeated them, and, contrary to all native traditions, had cut off the
heads of the slain, among whom was Captain Lloyd himself. I was afraid
that after this we should soon hear more of them, and my opinion has
been completely justified. On the 1st of May two hundred of the Ngataiwa
tribe, and three hundred other natives under Te Ua's prophet Hepanaia
and Parengi-Kingi of Taranaki, attacked a strong fort on Sentry Hill,
garrisoned by fifty men of the 52d Regiment under Major Short.

"The Ngataiwa took no part in the action, but the Hau-Haus charged with
great bravery. The garrison, fortunately being warned by their yells of
what was coming, received them with such a heavy fire that their leading
ranks were swept away, and they fell back in confusion. They made a
second charge, which was equally unsuccessful, and then fell back with a
loss of fifty-two killed, among whom were both the Hau-Hau prophet and
Parengi-Kingi.

"The other affair has taken place in the Wellington district. Matene,
another of the Hau-Hau prophets, came down to Pipiriki, a tribe of the
Wanganui. These people were bitterly hostile to us, as they had taken
part in some of the former fighting, and their chief and thirty-six of
his men were killed. The tribe at once accepted the new faith. Mr.
Booth, the resident magistrate, who was greatly respected among them,
went up to try to smooth matters down, but was seized, and would have
been put to death if it had not been for the interference in his favour
of a young chief named Hori Patene, who managed to get him and his wife
and children safely down in a canoe to the town of Wanganui. The
Hau-Haus prepared to move down the river to attack the town, and sent
word to the Ngatihau branch of the