Parliamentary Paper.

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1716, 20 August 1862, Page 5

Parliamentary Paper.

Report from C. Hunter Brown, Esq., of an Official Visit to the Urewera Tribes. (Concluded from our last.) Te Manihera, their Chief, approved personally, and came on with us to the next, kainga, anil spoke as our own colleague there; he said, however, that he must wait for a general meeting of the Urevvera, before he could decide whether he could accept a Commisioner or not. We had a second talk at this place in consequence of the arrival of a party of about twenty, from Maungapohatu, including Mohi, chief mau at that place. This Mohi made rather a frantic speech, taunting us with coming to take land. We had all the old objections and fears' over again. Finally they appeared to be talked out of opposition, up to the " wait and look on" point; however, Mohi did better than that, for he came on with us as far as Waimana and exerted himself on our behalf. Tahora; Chief Te Whenuanui.—A very small place. Unusually quiet and apparently convincing talk. Te Whenuanui approved and expressed his great desire for a mail. At leaving on Monday morning, I asked Te Whenuanui his answer to Governor. With a puzzled, musing expression, he gave me a figurative evasive answer. Mr. Fulloon staid a few minutes after I had started, and then poor Te Whenuanui opened his heart. It seems that his concience was stinging him for having gone too far on Saturday night in pledging himself to acceptance of the neyv law, he who had pledged his faith and allegiance to the Vicar General ! Fortunately, Mr. Fullon tells me, he was able to remove theso difficulties by describing the thorough equality before the law of Protestant and Roman Catholic, and that his hearty co-operation in the new system would jio whit compromise his staunchness as a Romanist;*

| At Tahora, Te Manihera took Mr. Fullodn aside, and asked him what he conceived to be the state of mind of the people whom he had seen. « Assent" said Mr. F. boldly. "Yes, but what else ?" " Why, acceptance, as when you take hold of a thingf and turn it about, uncertain as yet whether you will keep it or drop it." " Just that," said Manihera. Tuapuka ; Chief Kawana.—Here our chief work was to appease their Roman Catholic fears and to explain some of the dreadful cock-and-bull stories which they had got hold of, such as that we armed our clergy and made them fight at Taranaki, &c, &c. In conclusion, they expressed their determination to receive the new things, but with exceeding cautioD, ready to let go in a moment if they found them hurt. Sad confusion exists in the minds of some of the most thinking men in this valley, between the " ture," as they call the Gospel or law of God, and the " ture" as they also call the law of man. They appear greatly to fear lest by the second we should be meaning to undermine the first. It is a pity that in general conversation they should use "ture" for either almost indiscriminately. Waikare ; Chief and Roman Catholic Teacher Himiona.—A tolerably large kainga on the Waikare, a tributary of Whakatane. Shorter and more satisfactory talk here than at previous places. Himiona, a fine intelligent looking young Chief, held by the Natives to be the cleverest and most influential man of Whakatane accepted with unusual heartiness, and promised to write letters to all Urevvera kaingas to urge them to accept, and talked of having a general meeting of the Urewera by and by to give a more forcible assent. He spoke with great weariness of his work in the purely Native Runanga. Himiena used a curious simile in giving his approval—one which illustrates their jealous frame of mind. He approved, he said, because he should have the legs as well as the seat of the chair on which it was proposed to place him. If he were to have the seat, but the Pakeha two of the legs, then indeed he should not approve, because who knows how soon he should be capsized ? I said nothing, but I have thought since that if the Maoiis are to have the seat and its legs, we Pakehas shall have the very floor on which the seat rests—money. I Take away that and I fear that he and his chair too would very soon drop out of sight. Ruatoki.—This is a large and very scattered kainga, at the head of the vale of Whakatane and close to the wooded gorge. Here we spoke to a muster of some 30 men. My explanations and recommeudations were very well received, and the policy swallowed whole, so to say. Some one remarking that as we had come in at the back of the wharc (i. e., at the head of the river), and the men at the back of the whare had made no opposition; why, they, sitting in the front, had nothing to do but to let us pass on. A good deal, however, was said about caution. Here we first began to hear about tho trade-prices grievance, so fertile a topic farther on. Here ensued the fiery speaking on Wepiha's letter. Waimaua.—A scattered kainga, a few miles up the tributary stream of the same name. We had a very small meeting here, most of the men being away ; but the old Chief Pihopa, and his son Anania, a fine intelligent man, who now takes the lead in the hctpu, were present. Anania accepted more heartily than any one in Urewera, unless it be Himiona, and pressed for the speedy establishment of a Pakeha, i. e.. Commissioner ; that is to say, lie told me to tell tilt. ' '-- li'— *!"» *'"'•• «.l"~l. hatches its young on Maungapouhatu and then flies out to sea, and leaves them for days together. I think that these details justify the general summary of Urewera public, opinion, which I giive above. Pairau, of Oputao, promised to forward our letters aud printed papers to the men of Waikari-moana. Both Pairau and Himiona, of Waikari, wrote to them and engaged to gain their consent; which, indeed, as they said, was certain to follow that of the tribe at large. I did not visit this Lake district, for reasons given before. The condition of the Coast tribes from Olnwa to Te Kaka, is in some respects better than that of the Urevvera ; having more ready communication with Auckland, all European goods are more plentiful amongst them ; they dress better, have more horses, ploughs, sledges, and even drays at Opotiki ; they have more tools and utensils ; each place has several fine large canoes, perhaps two or three whale-boats, and Opotiki has three or four schooners owned by Maoris, besides two or three more unseaworthy for want of repairs. Whaling stations have once existed on this coast, and the Maoris still man a few boats every year. Last year Te Kaha turned out two boats, but got no whales. Altogether five whales were killed on this coast last winter. At Opotiki two or three Pakeha traders are resident: at Tunapahore, one; at Whitianga, two ; at Omaio, one (half-caste) ; at Te Kaha, two. All along this coast, and also at Ruatoki and Whaimana, the Maoris are long and loud in their complaints of the white man's trade. This is the grievance of the tribe ; say they—Let the Governor send us a trader to buy dear and sell cheap ; then indeed for the first time will we believe in his love for us ! In fact, the difference between coast prices and Auckland prices is to these poor people an insoluble problem, and though vou set the solution plainly before them they won't believe it. This want of faith, hnd possibly certain shortcomings on the part of individual traders, have driven them apparently to revenge themselves in their own way : at least, all along the coast the traders complain long and loud of the growing insolence and dishonesty of the Maori—especially of a resolute avoidance to pay their debts, which amounts virtually to repudiation. Throughout both the interior and the coast the prohibition of arms and ammunition has been the subject of long and reiterated remonstrance, but especially on the coast the Maoris are very sore about this privation. Earnest have been their assertions of their single-hearted desire to sit still in peace and quietness, and of their innocence of Pakeha blood—plaintive their petitions to be allowed a little powder " to shoot birds for their children and for their sick !" But my interpreter, Mr. Fulloon, put an almost ludicrously sudden stop to these outpourings at Ohiwa, by reminding them of certain plans for aiding in an attack on Auckland, had the fighting of last year broken out also in the North, and at places farther East, by reminding them of a projected "kutikuti," i. e. f cutting off or killing all the Pakehas on that coast, which was once discussed atWangaparoa, near East Cape. On this South coast of the Bay of Plenty there is, I think, a very unusual proportion of fine men, with quite Caucasian features—large high noses, moderate lips, light brown complexions, and often with a respectable fringe ot whiskers and beards—men, indeed, who, but for the tattoo, might be taken for Turks, let children are few—certainly fewer than amongst tho Urewera. ■ The Whakatohea occupy the coast from QhiwfUo. | point called Tirohpga, about; half

way between Opotiki Heads and Opape~-that is, to a hill with some Rata trees on it, about half way along the sand-beach'south-east of Opotiki. ( Vide sketch map at the end of this Report.) At Opotiki, the Whakatohea capital so to say, the Maoris bear a specially bad character for insolence, extortion, inhospitality, " puremu," repudiation of debts, and insolent distrust of everything Pakeha. Here is the focus of "King" agitation; here the purely Native Bunanga may be seen in its most rampant state, and is, I firmly believe, worse for the Maoris than the old " taua" (plundering party), as accustoming them to injustice under the name of law. Both Pakeha and Maori tell of cases against evidence, of severe penalty for trifling offence, of penalties neatly fitted to the circumstances of the offender rather than to the circumstances of the offence, and of similar abuses of law. Lest this should be deemed mere vague abuse, I add instances. Te Teira, of Ohiwa, told me that a man has been fined £5 for calling another a " taurekareka" (slave). Rev. Mr. Clarke told me of a man having been fined £lO because his pigs had rooted in a " tapu" spot; his wife, indignant at this victimization of her husband, rated the judges soundly, told them they were " runanga-pirau" (runanga-rotten), and was fined £2. A respectable old settler of Opotiki told me that the Maoris came into his court" yard on one occasion and " aggravated" him till he swore at them; the Bunanga fined him his gold watch. The Maori wife of this old man, though professing disapproval of the reviving fashion of tattoo, in a moment of weakness gave a young niece or cousin £1 to help hertopoythe expense (£l 10s.) of getting tattooed, —the Runanga heard of it and sentenced the husband to a fine of £5. This he refused to pay, and he declared to me he would let the Bunanga plunder his store first. Extravagantly heavy penalties for crim. con. with women of notoriously bad character is another weakness of their Bunanga. While I was at Opotiki, one Whakatautari, a very great man (especially in his own estimation) was tried for this offence with such a woman—pleaded guilty, and offered 15 horses, two pieces of land, a canoe, a gun, and a " mere pounamu" (green stone hatchet), to the husband as damages. The husband referred this surprising offer to the Runanga to award him what they thought fair; they said 12 horses ; but Whakatautari refused to receive back any part of his self-imposed damages. As the man appeared no whit abashed or penitent, I naturally asked Mr. Fulloon, and also a Missionary for some probable explanation of Whakatautari's conduct. Neither believed in the heavy penalty's being an effect of penitence. Two motives were suggested: one, that a Mao i chief prides himself on munificently paying for his "he" (wrong doing); another, that Whakatautari knows of, or reckons on, some offence of the other party, which will enable him (Whakatautari) in his turn to get inflicted on him a swingeing penalty. The frequent meetings of Runangas and Komitis to try cases of " puremu;" the unblushing minuteness with which Maoris relate such cases; the number of women preseut to hear them tried; and the long open discussions of the trial afterwards in their mixed evening gatherings, must have the most unwholesome effect on their small societies. Bad in any society, all this must evidently be supremely bad when the village population live so much in public, so constantly together, as do the Maoris. went up the Whakatane to try to effect the establishment there of a Runanga like itself, but met, I was told, with no success. As an instance of their impudent attempts to bully the Pakeha, take the following:— While I was at Ohiwa, a letter was brought to me with a message that it came from Te Kaha; it was addressed to the Governor, or to whomsoever it may be, at Ohiwa ("Kia Kawana, id a wai ranei"), and its contents being interpreted, are as follows: 1 May 12.

Go, 0 my letter, to the Governor, or to whoever it may be! If you are the Governor, you must go back! If you are a Magistrate, you must go back! If you are a postman from the Governor, you must go back ! If you persist in coming here, you shall pay £IOO penalty! From the Komiti, from the whole tribe. —Afterwards, when 1 came to Te Kaha, the men of that place indignantly repudiated this insolent production, and one of them wrote to Puhipi to remonstrate about it. When I came to Opotild, I found that Puhipi had entirely neglected a letter which I had written, requesting him to call the people together to hear the Governor's message ; and Puhipi himself, having first made a most transparent attempt to evade its altogether, when he did meet us, began by saying " Did you not receive a letter forbidding you to come here ?" The answer was of course the remark that, firstly, a letter without date or signature was worthless, and, secondly, the denial of the right of any man to stop us. This unpromising opening to a public talk was followed by violent speeches, from Puhipi, Whakatautari, and others—some twenty may have been present—against the Governor and the Pakeha generally, repudiating the Treaty of Waitangi, (although it bears five Whakatohea signatures, as it happens,) saying that the whole country must yet fight the Pakeha, claiming all the Whakatohea men as kingites, &c., &c, &c. Puhipi evinced great soreness at so much land having passed into the hands of the Pakeha, and the stoppage of powder and grog ; he asserted absolute disbelief in Sir George Grey's sayings, and refused to have anything to do with his plans as long as he remained in the country; and said that the Maoris' only remedy was to get all their land back again from the Pakeha. In spite of such an unpromising opinion, we—-or I should rather say Mr. Fulloon—in the course of the day brought round Puhipi and Te Hira, the two principal men, to consent to inquire into this new policy and to promise a decided answer on my return, and to approve of the whole plan as the thing required to place them on an equality with the Pakeha. I may here remark, that" I havo found one of the most telling arguments in favour of the policy, to be that the Maoris will be the principal workers of it; that the Europeans' share in it will be to point out the way, and to save the Maoris from makiug mistakes and from losing time in trying plans which have been tried by us already and found to be bad. Puhipi said that they (the Opotiki men) would be glad to hear that Thompson had been to Auckland and dined at Government house, then they would know that everything had been settled. Mr. Fulloon said that that was also the Governor's desire, and that PuhipLhad better go and persuade Thompson to do so. Puhipi answered that he would not go in person, but that his letter should go; and declared that he and all his people were neither for the King nor the Governor, but that he would stand with Mg

arms open ready to receive " nga mea pono,. nga mea tika'" (the true and just things). Should the Governor strike him or go against him, he would draw in his arms; and the same if the King struck him. ..' On-my return through Opotiki, Puhipi reported that, during our absence, he had called together four meetings in different quarters of the place, and that they all agreed to receive the new " tikangas," and that they will build four " wbare-whakawas" (court-houses) by the spring; and pleaded hard that he must be-al-lowed some grog. He also wrote to the vernor.Puhipi has thus in some measure redeemed the conduct above related, so ill-befitting an Assessor; but I am still very doubtful of his sincerity as an ally. I fear that one of the strongest motives for the fair speeches with which he concluded our interview, is the desire to recover his too well-beloved grog. I have reported at such length on Opotiki, as I consider it the place where it is most difficult to form any reliable opinion as to the real temper of the people. Ohiwa.—l had previously held a small meeting of the Whakatohea at Punawai, on Ohiwa harbour. About 20jmen were present. They talked at first in a somewhat similar strain to those of Opotiki, bat less violently ; finally they admitted that the new tikangas were very good, but said that they should follow the lead of the Opotiki men. So said also Te Teira, for himself and the men of the little " kainga" of Onekawa, Ohiwa heads. I think that a judicious Commissioner, well acquainted with Maori character, might succeed in carrying out the Governor's plans at Opotiki; but he would certainly meet with much opposition, much hollow support, and at Opotiki more than at most places a single false step might ruin the experiment. ' Ngaitai.—The next set of Natives along the coast are the Ngaitais, claiming the coast from the Whakatohea at Tirohanga (see sketch map) to a point between the two pahs of Tunapahore and Pakoriri. Both these boundaries are disputed. Their Chief, Wiremu Kingi, estimates their numbers at 100 men and women. Their chief place, Tunapahore, is a fenced pa, at the edge of the beach, within long rifle shot of Pakoriri, the fenced pa of the Whanauapanui rival " hapu," with whom the Ngatitais have an unsettled dispute as to their common boundary. Some years ago they fought on this subject, but, Maori-like, without deciding it* We made the usual explanations, and were met with the usual difficulties, but temperately stated. They appeared very sore on the prohibition of powder, and rather bewildered that Christianity has not made them the happy people, free from crime, which they seem once to have thought that it would do ; also that the Christian people who brought them the Gospel should have found occasion to fight with them so often. They said a little about promises to the King party, and why did we not aid William Thompson? also shewed an honorable distrust of so much money lest it should be a bribe. But there was not that tone of bitter hostility to the Pakeha and the Queen so remarkable at Opotiki, and they approved very frankly of the scheme. Wiremu Kingi, their chief, and also principal speaker, compared the policy to a net, which, if pulled on one side only, lets the fish easily escape; and applied his simile by exhorting us to pull our net so as not to let that very big fish, W. Thompson, escape us. fellowsr"ana^"very'^ospTtable WP ?B fravelfe/sf Their Chief, Wi Kingi, is a quiet gentlemanly young fellow, and apparently a sensible man. His " whare" had far more civilized means and appliances than usual, and he was a perfect model of hospitality. Ngaitawarere and Whanauapanui.—These cognate tribes are the next Natives eastward along the coast. They are estimated by Ngatawa—a Chief and Native Assessor of the former—at 400 men. They occupy the country from Tunapahore to the east side of Tikirau, or Cape Runaway, with an ill-defined boundary between them Te Kaha (see sketch-map). From the east side of Cape Runaway, their boundary, striking inland, passes to the north-west of Ikurangi, whieh belongs to Ngatiporou. Ngatawa said that the chief difficulties of his place were debts and the high prices of traders. He also complained that they had been much harassed by reports from the rival parties of " King" and " Queen" Maoris. He was evidently anxious in his mind till he had it explained to him that the Maori Kaiwhakawhas were to be really colleagues, and not merely subordinates of the Pakeha Magistrate. In the evening assembly, my explanations were well received, and their objections temperately stated. They asked for time to decide. On my return through their pa, they gave a decided assent. Ngatiawa also wrote to the Governor by me. He seems to be a very busy, energetic man, fit for an Assessor. His head is very full of the great trade grievance. Poor fellows—they can't for the life of them understand how the Governor can stop powder and grog, and not cheapen trade! At Whitianga, another small Whanauapanui "kainga," where some five-and-twenty men mustered to hear us, a speech of welcome to the Queen was made; and Tipata, their Chief, complained good-bumouredly of having been overlooked at the time of the Kohimaramara Conference—or Tiriti (Treaty), as the call it —and also of the Governor having never been to see him. But the staple talk here too was about the trade and gunpowder grievances. On asking Tipata for his answer to the Governor, he said "E whakaaeana ahua (I agree); thank you" (sic). One jocular Native, called Watarawi, who had made some amusing "King" speeches, and clever sarcastic attacks on the Pakeha, guarded us against supposing that all the people were Queenites, lest, on Kingites afterwards turning up amongst them, we should accuse them of having deceived us on this night. Tipata sent a message to the Governor to come and see them next summer; then Tipata would muster all his Runangas, and " spear" the Governor, on account of the embargo on powder and grog, and then the Governor would see who were Kingites and who Queenites. Omaio.—The talk here was as nearly as possible a repetition of that at the last place. Instead of the usual " King" speeches, we here heard only ridicule of the King as of an absurd personage, who had got nothing to give them, and yet wanted them to go to Waikato, and get shot in fighting the Pakeha for his sake. Te Kaha.—Talk of a very similar character to that at the two last places, but briefer, the objections fewer and more feebly urged. One man demanded why we came burdening them with a new law so soon after we had given them the first, i.e., the Law of God? " Why did we not wait till they were perfect in the first?" This was in singular contrast to the sarcastic song with which we were so often greeted in the Urewera, " Where were you at

the beginning?" meaning, as subsequent talking Sewed « Why did you not sooner bring us telhingTXh you say will do us so much toed?" One man that the Runanga was divided between TKing and Queen. Another admitted that this, our purely Jsative Kunangas, had mana (authority) only over their own members—an important admission. The Chief Matenga was away, but from seventy to ei jhty mustered, some of them from kaingas beyond Te Kaha; they accepted almost too readily; I mean, in a wholesale way, which suggested the mortifying idea that they didn't really care much about it. Tliey went with much greater zest into traveller's tales (korero tangata haere)—listening eagerly to Mr. Fulloon's account of our reception at different places, and to the true version of the extraordinary tales which gain currency amongst them, such as that the Governor had just gone with five thousand soldiers to take possession of Coromandel; that Prince Albert was really killed in battle with the French, but that we will not admit it, &c. In the course of the evening's conversation these men repudiated Mr. Baker as their Magistrate, and claimed Mr. H. Clark, of whom they spoke in high praise. They also repudiate the present district boundary, and claim to be made one district from Tikirau (Cape Runaway) to Whakapaukorero, the Ngatiawa boundary, a little north of the Awa-o-te-Atua a Matata (v. sketch map). _ I have no doubt that, looking to tribal affinities, the coast from Whakapaukorero to Tikirau should form the boundary of one district which should include the whole of the Ngatiawa, Urewera, Whakatohea, Ngaitai, Whanauapanui, and Ngaitawarere. Large as this piece of country is, and difficult to travel, I think it_ might be efficientlv worked by one Commissioner stationed at Ruatoki, and two Magistrates stationed, one at Whakatane for the Urewera and Ngatiawa and one at Opotiki for the coast from Ohiwato Tikirau. The Ngaitai would probably form a discordant element; it might be requisite at first to allow them a separate Runanga; and, if so. this might, I think, be presided over by the Commissioner in sessions separate from those of the large general Runanga, embracing Te Urewera, Ngatiawa, Whakatohea, Te Whanauapanui, and Ngaitawarere. I think, eventually, when its boundary disputes were once settled, that this little Ngaitai community might be induced to coalesce with the larger in working one general Runanga. The objection to including the Ngatiawa with the Arawa, as is done by the present arrangement, is that old feuds and old jealousies divide those two peoples; they have no ties from past history or present interests; whereas Ngaitawarere, the Whanauapanui and Ngatiawa, are linked together by intermarriage and a common ancestry who emigrated in the same canoe. Also that the small bit of Ngatiawa country thus forced into uncongenial union with the Arawa contains the very man of greatest weight and strongest influence with the Natives of the coast from Opape to Tikirau, and also with the Urewera, and that is Wepiha of Whakatane. Whether these are sufficient reasons for altering a boundary once proclaimed is for the consideration of Government. The boundary of Te Kaha Point, splitting a pa in two, and dividing two friendly hapus in order to unite one of them with another tribe (the Ngatiporou) whom they do not acknowledge as friends or kin, does certainly appear to r "VnH<?ve¥ n Commissioner or Magistrate is appointed to have charge of the Urewera aotmtry should be a stout pedestrian, as the talking is of the most severe discription, and if will probably be impossible for years to come v ) ride over that region of mountain and forest. He should also be allowed a canoe and boatshed at Waikaremoana, so as to be independent of signal-fires to the opposite shore. Is is also exceedingly desirable that the Commissioner should have a good knowledge of the Maori language, of its whakatuakis, waiatas, and traditions; a knowledge of these would often enable him to win over an antagonist on whom reasoning, pur ct simple, would fall powerless; without it, I do not think that the Natives would open their minds freely to him about their puzzles, wrongs, and schemes; I think that they would go more and more to the Commissioner's interpreter, who if a man of any ability, would gradually, and almost even in his own dispite, slide into that position of counsellor and guide which the Commissioner was sent expressly to fill. I am sorry to say that during this tour, I have heard from all Pakehas resident among the Maories, inland or on the coast, young or old, lay or clerical, Protestant or Roman Catholic, but one account of the behaviour of the Maoris of the present day. That is, that it has sadly deteriorated within the last few years ; some add, since the Taranaki war. Some say that formerly they were civil and honest, pleasing and obliging. All agree that of late there has been a markedly increasing frequency of insolence bullying, theft, tricks of trade, assumption of superiority over the Pakeha, and carelssness and slovenliness in pulic worship. In most of these kaingas, I was told, they will not use the prayer for the Queen. I myself saw half the Litany suddenly skipped over on coming to the prayer for the Queen in the Sunday's Service at Tunaphore; nor was the prayer for the Queen read in the Morning Service on Sunday at Tahora in the Urewera. Of the meddlesome and unjust proceedings of the Maori Runanga I have already spoken. When men who are imply making a living out of the Maoris whom they appear to dislike and dispise, and men who are devoting their whole lives to teach and help spiritually and temporally the newly-con-verted race whom they strive to love, agree in such testimony as this, it is difficult to doubt its truth. My own experience, as far as mere traveller's experience goes, certainly confirms the opinion of a change for the worse since I first became acquainted with Maoris twelve years ago. I may add that a very distinct impression has been produced on my mind, that much of the soreness and distrust of the Pakeha evinced by these particular tribes proceeds from the long course of comparative neglect which they have experiennced. The Missionary and the Magistrate have been almost entirely strangers to them ; with traders and whalers many of them are familiar enough ; and, without wishing to speake ill of classes in general or of individuals in particular, it will, I think, be generally granted that such a onesided experience is not calculated to give them the best possible data on which to form a fair opinion of that strange people into whose hand they see, with deep misgivings, that the wealth and" mana of tho laud are rapidly passing. Beforo concluding this report, I have much pleasure in expressing my deep sense of Mr. Fulloon's services. His thorough familiarity with Maori idiom, tho ease with which ho mastered the most far-fetched similes and frequently turned such weapons against the inventor of them to his utter discomfiture ; the readiness with which, armed with an old Maori

>roverb, he knocked down defences which would )robably have proved impervious to the keenest sdge of Pakeha argument; rendered his assist- | ince quite invaluable to me. I have found rim not merely a good interpreter, but a most smcient colleague, and whatever good results nay follow from this expedition, Mr. Fulloon nay assuredly take to himself the satisfaction jf having mainly contributed to them. I append a summary of what I conceive to be the state of mind as to accepting the new policy, of the people of the different kaingaa j . which I visited. C. Hunter Brown. APPENDIX. 6UMMARY OP LOCAL PUBLIC OPINION. Taoroa: Hesitation; avowed neutrality, accompanied by avowed expectation that their . neutrality and watching will end in coming J over to the Queen. , Ahikereru: Same; more professed adhesion t to King. Hamiora, chief and teacher, thinks t well of the " tikangas," and evidently expected them to be carried out. ( _ . Oputao: Consent and co-operation of Pairau, the chief. Indifference of rest. { Tatahoata: Consent, but with reserve and , distrust. Consent and co-operation of Te , Manihera, chief and teacher. ( j Tahora; Same; approval of the chief Te , Whenuanui, accompanied, I think, by some . lingering distrust. , , Tuapuku: Chief, Kawana. Intention > to receive the new things, but with exceeding caution; ready to drop them at the first symptom of treachery. Waikare-whenua: Assent; co-operation of Himiona, chief and K. Catholic teacher. Ruatoki: Assent; Te Matenga, chief, decidedly. . Waimana: Assent; chief Anama cordially so. Ohiwa: Chief Ohiwa; approval; consent left to depend on men of Opotiki. Opotlkl-. Assent; Puhipi and Te Ilira approve; the former took an active part in persuading the people. lam more doubtful of the reality of the consent of Opotiki than of any other place. Tunapahore: Chief Wiremu King. Pakoriri: Chief Ngatawa. Whitianga: Chief Tipata. Omaio: Chief Te Matenga absent. Te Kaha: Chief Hamiora absent. All approve and consent languidly, but are very full of two grievances, traders' high prices and the prohibition of powder. Ngatawa from Pakoriri came on with us and helped us; Wi Kingi of Tunapahore, is decidedly on our side. Less parade of supporting the Maori King at these places ; at Te Kaha he was ridiculed. Te Kaha consented to the new policy with apparent heartiness.