E—No. 2,

LAND QUESTION, FROM 1839 TO 1859. EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH FROM GOVERNOR HOBSON TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE, 13TH NOVEMBER, 1841. At Taranaki the powerful tribe of the Waikatos threatens to dislodge the settlers, as they did not buy the land from them, who claim it in right of conquest. The Natives of Wanganui have followed a similar course with those of Porirua. I have reason, however, to hope that a payment of money will induce these people to torego any further opposition: and the principal chief of the Waikato tribe, Te Wherowhero, has already consented to accept compensation to the value of £250 for the claims of his tribe on the lands of Taranaki.

No. 5. EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH FROM GOVERNOR HOBSON TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE, 15TH DECEMBER, 1841. I certainly admit that a people, who are in the highest degree jealous of their'territorial rights, and amongst whom those rights are very imperfectly defined, are not unlikely to resort to force sooner or later, rather than suffer the occupation of lands, which may have been fairly bought from one tribe, but are claimed with great apparent justice by another. I take, for instance, the Waikato tribe, under the Chief Te Wherovvhero, who are extremely powerful. They conquered and drove away the Ngatiawas from Taranaki in 1834, leaving only a small remnant, who found refuge in the mountains of Cape Egmont; and having pretty well laid waste the country, and carried off a large number of slaves, they retired to their own district on the banks of the river Waikato. It appears that in 1839 Colonel Wakefield visited the country and bought a considerable portion of it from the few Ngatiawas who had resumed their habitations on the retreat of Te Wherowhero. Now Te Wherowhero claims the country as his by right of conquest, and insists on it that the remnant of the Ngatiawas are slaves ; that they only live at Taranaki by sufferance, and that they had no right whatsoever to sell the land without his consent. In illustration of his argument, he placed a heavy ruler on some light papers, saying, " Now so long as I choose to keep this weight here, the papers remain quiet, but if I remove it, the wind immediately blows them away; so it is with the people of Taranaki" ; alluding to his power to drive them off. Te Wherowhero certainly has a claim to the land, but not a primary one, as the received rule is, that those who occupy the land must first be satisfied. But he is the most powerful chief in New Zealand, and I fear will not be governed by abstract rights, but will rather take the law into his own hands.

No. G. DEED OF SALE FROM TE WHEROWHERO TO HER MAJESTY, DATED 31ST JANUARY, 1842. Know all men by this book : We, Chiefs of Waikato, do let go and sell these lands of ours to George Clarke the Protector of Natives for H.M. Victoria, Queen of England, her heirs and successors, whether male or female, the land and all things that are on or under this land, we sell to George Clarke the Protector of Natives, for an estate for the Queen, her heirs and successors whether male or female, for ever. The beginning of the Northern boundary is at Tongapourutu, the Western boundary is along the sea shore between Tongapourutu and Waitotara, and on the South beginning from Waitotara and going inland to Piraunui. We receive these payments on behalf of the tribes of Waikato for their interest in the said land, One hundred and fifty pounds money, two horses, two saddles, and two bridles, one hundred red blankets. Witness our names and signs, written in Auckland, on this thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two. Te Kati, Witnesses— Te Wherowhero. J. COATES, George Clarke, Sub-Protector. True Translation, Thomas S. Forsaith.