E.—No. 2.

No. 16. Copt of DESPATCH fboh his excellency sic geoege gbey, to his geace the duke of NEWCASTLE. Government House, Auckland, 11th August, 1863. My Lord Duke, — I have the honor to call Your Grace's attention to my predecessor's Despatch, No. 10 of the 25th January, 1860, which contains as an enclosure a letter from Mr. Parris, the District Land Purchase Commissioner at New Plymouth, dated the 4th December, 1859, in which the following paragraph occurs :— "W. King avowed his determination to oppose the sale without advancing any reason for so doing, upon which I put a series of questions to him, which I called upon the Rev. Mr. Whitely to witness, viz. :— Q. " Does the land belong to Teira and party 1" A. " Yes ; the land is theirs, but i will not let them sell it." Q. " Why will you oppose their selling what is their own 1" A. " Because I do not wish that the land should be disturbed, and though they have floated it, I will not let it go to sea." 2. It is understood here, that a great deal of importance has been attached in England and elsewhere to this apparent admission on the part of W. King, that the land claimed by the Government at "Waitara, as a purchase from the Chief Taylor, belonged to the Chief Taylor and his party alone, and that no other persons had any claim to it. 3. It has therefore been thought advisable that I should call Your Grace's attention to the fact that the Government published two distinct statements of what passed between Mr. Parris and W. King, at the interview alluded to in Mr. Parris's letter .of the 4th December, 1859. 4. One of these statements is that which I have quoted above. It is a summary given in English of a conversation which passed in the Maori language. The other is a statement published in the Native Gazette, which is published by the Government, under the title of "Te Manuhiri Tuarangi." This paper is printed in two columns, one in the English language, the other in the Maori. In this newspaper the following statement is given in the Native, language of the questions proposed by Mr. Parris to W. King, and of that Chiei's replies :— " Mr. Parris enquired, ' Does not that "Ka patai atu a Pareti, ' Ehara koia iaTe ' piece of land belong to Taylor }' He replied, Teira taua wahi.' Ka ki ake No Te Teira ano, 1 'It belongs to Taylor and all of us, but as he is no matou katoa hoki; otiia, nana i tuku kite setting it adrift to sea, I shall seize upon it and moana, naku i rere ki runga, maku eto ki drag it ashore again.'" uta.' " The statement here made by W. King is stronger in the Native language, than it appears to be in the annexed English translation, the real meaning of the Native words used by him being, "It belongs to Taylor together with all of us." I have, &c, G. Grey. His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, K.G.

No. 96. Vide Sessional Papers, 1860, E. No. 3, p. 10. Ditto, p. 9.

Vide Manuhiri Tnartngi, Vol. 1, *fo. 11, 15 Aug., 1861, p. 14.

39

PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE WAITARA.