Our readers are already familiar with the attack on the Gate Pa at Tauranga, on the 29th of April, when our soldiers and sailors, after effecting an entrance into the Maori stronghold, were seized with a sudden panic, and retreated in the greatest disorder. It is rare indeed for our soldiers or sailors to desert their officers in the hour of danger; but on this occasion terror was more powerful than the sense of duty. It was not so with all, however; there were one or two honourable exceptions. When Commander Hay fell mortally wounded inside the pa, one gallant sailor stood by him, and refused to leave him, though frequently urged to do so. It was right that such an act of distinguished devotion to duty should be recognised as an encouragement to others to imitate his example, and Samuel Mitchell now carries on his breast the Cross of Valour as a memorial of the humanity and courage he displayed at the Gate Pa. On the same occasion, Assistant-Surgeon Manley, of the Royal Artillery, distinguished himself by exposing his life to great danger in entering the pa with the generous intention of offering assistance to Commander Hay. That unfortunate officer was beyond the reach of human aid, but this detracts nothing from the praise due to Assistant-Surgeon Manley, who remained with him to the last, and did all that human skill could suggest to alleviate his sufferings. Nor was this all; on learning, after his return to the camp, that there were other wounded officers in the pa who might require his aid, he offered to proceed to their assistance. To have done so would have been to expose his life to certain destruction, as the insurgents had now resumed possession of their stronghold; the service cannot afford to lose such men as Assistant-Surgeon Manley. While this generous offer was refused, it was felt that he had already made good his title to the distinction of the Victoria Cross, which has now been conferred upon him. Assistant-Surgeons Temple and Manley belong to the same branch of the service, and it is honourable to the medical profession that two of its members should have attained to the same distinction in the course of one year.