C—No. 3

REPORT ON THE WATRARAPA LANDS.

MB. SEARANCK.E TO CHIEF LAND PURCHASE COMMISSIONER. Wellington, July*lB6o. SlR '~ I have the honor to forward to you General Report on Land Purchasing operations in the District of th Wairarapa, also plan of th/same, showing all the different Blocks bought: the Reserves made in the same for tile Aborigines; the lands the purchase of which has not yet been completed; and the lands still in the hands of ihe Aboriginal owners, , The plan is compiled from the numerous dist.net surveys made during the last severyearsand is still ver P v deficien in many parts: this deficiency I propose to remedy by ma king a comp lee TWonomeVical survey of the whole country between Castle Point to the North, the Ranges on the Weft and the Coast on the East and South, and by the completion of the surveys of Reserves in eonnertion with the Trigonometrical survey. ' _ , ~ . Thlplan forwarded herewith can only be regarded as a Sketch Plan, though I bcheve correct in 3 - Ihave.&c, William N. Searancke, Donald McLean, Esq., • District Commissioner. Chief Commissioner, Auckland. Enclosure. GENERAL REPORT ON THE WAIRARAPA DISTRICT. The Wairarapa Di,t,ict includes all the land laying between the Rimutaka and Tararua Ranges on the West yard Coast on the East and Southward and the Boundar.es ot the Block of and, known as the Ca tic Point Block on the Northward, and is very thmly occupied by a branch of the Sea N« kahungunu family, a tribe occupying the whole of the East Coast from Wairarapa Lake o U c SoutTto Tmanga to the North. This District, from its be.pg an open country, was enentcd pre'lato V irruptions from the tribes resident in and abovt the neighbourhood of Wellington andtleWes Coast, who, driven from their own lands at Mokau, Kawhia and Wha.ngaroa, had headed by Te Ilauparaha, migrated and settled here driving its former owners the Muaopoko and NVatlahu,~ tribes before them; the former were almost extirpated, the latter retreated into w4ar!nn which they subsequently deserted, being completely broken-spirited by repeated a tacks, »S3S ii ■ body jNukutaurun, a settlement near Table Cape where they remained abont twelve year returning t./wairarapa barely two years previous to the first arrhs, lot settlers m Wellington 11 tho Sim. of Watepouri, and other Chiefs, who had been the cause of their migration. Ibe fact of i be in.- a broken tribe prepared them to welcome European setters among them, and subsequently fearful thitThe Government would remove them, consented to the ahenation of their lands by sale to 4116 C The n ialfl of lands commenced in the year 1853, and was vigorously carried on both in that year and in 1854 the payments for most of these lands extendi.,, over a term of years, a system well adapted to enible 1 c Maories to establish themselves comfortably and lay the foundation ot future wealth and to enable tl t ■""> , fth Government to retain some control over the expenditure; £C£ ***■«*«££-£ was not done, and the result has been that the deferred cut of payments for Luis has had a directly opposite effect to what was intended (x.c ,) an incessant SSSi *E iS only to sell the hu.ds still in their hands but also to keep a constant ag.tat.onove the lands formerly sold in order to obtain from the Government renewed supplies of money for wasteful . ,!.?,: , they aonear to think they are entitled to. The leading Chiefs of Wairarapa have sold ESSrSSTtBKSJE land, "they are now in a helpless state of debt and poverty they ted .no. rather wasted in a thoughtless and prodigal display the capitalderived from then- land , .v 1 1 f'l?vi ,- it out to advantage and living on its interest. Flattered by Storekeepers and others listened with eager credulity to the.r d or otion of tlir lauds as boundless, they were able to obtain credit to an extent almost incredible con' S that Lev had to overreach European sagacity. But a small proportion of these liabilities Wb;,li dated, and this state of debt and poverty has paved the way lor discontent and jealousy , s bod he Government and the Europeans generally ; has caused a much higher pme to be against Louiu.e ] j c . VPll . lv offe ,. e d for sale, and also the claims on them to bo hSta ■ihev«.sh oceans living in possession of lauds which they now believe to have b en ocli-hly sold a too low and without disputing the actual sac of the land, unceasingly LalVrenewed demands for payments, which demands having no other a emative, according *jfce leneweu ,L \leeds of sale, but to dispute and prove the fallacy of, has led, I am aware SS2SS.22%X" the CaimaL to myfelf, and will be found to be preju icial to any Officer of the Native Land Purchase Department acting in tins District for some time, until at Loai-time and non-success proves the fallacy of their claims. least t me ana non s p thfm (hey ke use of> have beer!:niade for the Native, amounting altogether to about 20,224 acres, the nght of run over

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