28 NOVEMBER 1868, Page 2

The news from New Zealand is very bad. The colonial

force seems to have been quite demoralized by its recent unsuccessful encounters with native troops. The friendly Maories are mildly boasting that they will defend the English from the hostile tribes, and Government, which had hitherto ignored the English regiment still left in the island, has had to come down so far as to request its stay beyond the time appointed for its depar- ture, and to get some of the men sent to the front. If we may trust the Times' correspondent's letter, the colonial force must have been shockingly organized and badly led. The natural result is another Native-King rising, which, it is feared, may assume great proportions.