This placed the Government somewhat in a dilemma, as the Hau Haus were still in possession of the land that should have been surveyed, ready to parcel out to these fellows, and as this had not been done they could not keep their part of the contract. Still the men were quite willing to re-engage, provided the Government would guarantee ten more acres of land per annum for each year they continued to serve. This was the most modest demand, and the Colonel permitted one of their officers to proceed to Wellington to lay the matter before the ministry, who not only refused to accede to it but treated the officer with quite undeserved insolence, going so far as to return the message that if the military settlers did not care to serve without another grant of land they could leave the service, which they promptly did, in disgust, the majority of them making off to the southern goldfields, and the district, thanks to the insolent ignorance of a pack of lawyers and counter skippers, lost for ever the services of its best defenders. Other corps had also been disbanded, and one fine day the Colonel, thanks to the besotted stupidity of the Government, found himself with only one hundred and sixty men, including officers, to hold a district and carry out a campaign--duties that a few months previous had found ample occupation for nearly four thousand men. Yet our gallant O.C. was not the man to be daunted. True he had not enough men to garrison the posts which the Hau Haus, now emboldened by our paucity of numbers, not only threatened with attack, but also they ambushed every road, attempting to cut off, and if successful cut up, our despatch-riders and ration convoys. No; he would hit back, as he knew that passive resistance was no use in savage warfare, and although he had to withdraw nearly every man from all the posts to obtain a striking force, even then by no means an adequate one, still he did so. Just previous to this headquarters had been moved forward to Waihe, where an old pah had been reconstructed into a small but strong fort, the building of which had been begun, carried on and completed under fire, so that we continually had to drop tools and take up arms to resist attacks. At this time you might say we lived under fire, as all day long the natives fired at us from the bush, and it was now I played in the most extraordinary cricket match that I think ever took place. The game was inaugurated in honour of the completion of the work, and was Pigskin Polishers (troopers) _v._ Footsloggers (rangers), and was looked forward to with much excitement by both corps. Naturally the players were all out of practice, their dress far from accurate, and the pitch, well, damnable; but we turned to with _élan_, though to bat, bowl, or even field, belted as each man was with his revolver and fifty rounds of carbine ammunition, was very trying.