G.—No. 1

10

PETITIONS.

me o matou whenua i tukuna ai e matou ki te Kooti, ko etahi o aua whenua kihai i tukuna e to Kawanatanga kia ruritia e matou : ka pekc ra o a matou kupu, ko tenei anake, kua maroke noa atu te toto i era tau e rua kihai i puta to panuitanga tango whenua i taua taima, a heaha te hara o tenei tau i hapainga ai taua whakaaro i naianei ? whiriwhiria marietia to matou inoi, ko koutou hoki nga Rangatira kua whakaritea hei rapu tikanga hei whakatupu i te rangimarie i roto i te motu nei; na reira matou ka inoi tonu ki a koutou. Ko te putake o tenei he na Taranaki, ehara ia matou. Ka huri. Na o koutou hoa aroha i runga i te ture o to to tatou Tino Ranagatira o Te Kuini. [Here follow Signatures ] [translation.] To the General Assembly of New Zealand in Session at Wellington. This, the Petition of us, your faithful people and friends, the people of Poverty Bay, SiITH AS FOLLOWS, We are dwelling here in great trouble. Our earnest desire and intention is to live for ever beneath the protecting shade of our Sovereign the Queen : for she is our great parent also. These are our troubles, which we now proceed to bring under your notice. Wo pray you to look into our troubles, perplexities, and heavy measures which have been heaped upon us during all these months now past. These are our troubles : Our land, that the Government is constantly trying to take away from us. Two years have now passed away since the fighting took place in this part of the country. Immediately after the cessation of hostilities, some of tho people of this part were transported by the Government to the Chatham Islands, but the land was left untouched, neither was there anything said about taking our pieces of land. We received no notification from the Government to the effect that they had acquired this land by force of arms; and so we inferred the only punishment this people were to suffer was in the dead who had fallen, and those persons sent as prisoners to the Chatham Islands. But in the present case, the blood shed has long since dried, during the two years which have passed; yet the word of the Government, that we are to be deprived of our lands, has only now come forth. This word was heard only during the present year; had it been uttered during the fighting, it would not have caused us so much pain, although we did not participate in the offences of the Hau Haus. Give heed, Assembly of Gentlemen ! We are in great trouble at this present time, by reason of what the Government has done in deceiving us, so that we might consent and cede the whole of the flat land of this district. It has been owing to the influence of us, the Chiefs, that the greater portion of the country has remained quiet; and the reward for our having remained quiet, is, that we are to be washed away by (into) the water. During the past year, in the month of June, some of our people made application to the Native Lands Court, to have title to certain of our lands investigated ; a reply from the (Chief) Judge, Mr. Fenton, was received, saying, it was good, but the lands must first be surveyed; after which, they would be adjudicated upon. After this, we received notices that the Native Lands Court would be holden on tho twelfth day of September, 1866 ; these notices we actually received. But any notification informing us that the lands along this coast were gone from us, we did not receive. We all assembled at Turanganui on the day appointed by Mr. Fenton, but the Court did not sit, and we waited patiently to hear the reason, but we did not hear; nor did any notice at that time reach us, to the effect that the land was gone. But (shortly after) a second notice was received by us that the Native Lauds Court should be holden on tho twenty-fifth day of October, 1866; we all assembled at the place appointed, but there was no Court. We then wondered in our minds as to the reason why we were being perpetually bothered in this manner; and after considering for some time, we heard for the first time a word about the land being taken. The life-giving words came first: namely, the Native Lands Court was to be holden here. These were followed by the death-causing words, namely : the land was taken. But we have waited quietly for many months, hoping to get relief by the law, but in vain. We were urgent in applying to the Court during those months. Captain Biggs was urgent iu asking us to consent to our land being ceded ; then we consented to hand over a piece of land, it was a very large piece, leaving a piece for ourselves much smaller as compared with the other, the greater portion of which piece belonged to ourselves, the Government Natives. But we gave our consent only because we were wearied at his constantly teasing us, and because of the many intimidating words of the Government used towards us ; but he was not satisfied with what wc had agreed to. What he wanted was, to get all the level country, and we might perch ourselves on the mountains. Thereupon we told him it must be left for the Land Court to give us relief; then he replied, he would bring the land-taking Court. This was the first time we had heard such a name for the Court, and we were surprised. Still we waited patiently for the Lands Court, appointed to be holden on the third of this month. The Judge came, and it then occurred to our minds that this, perhaps, would bring us relief. Alas! where was the relief? No sooner came the Court here, than it was adjourned by Biggs, or rather by the Government. And now, he says, some method for the purpose of casting us will be sought from you, from the Assembly. Por which reason our Chiefs seek counsel from you to give us relief, and save our lands. The people who were assembled at this Court were very many, having come from all the country lying between Waiapu and Te Wairoa. The Government had no consideration for our having assembled in vain on the two former occasions, nor upon the present occasion, nor even in the matter of our lands, which we wished to take through the Court. Some of those lands we were not permitted by the Government to survey. We have said all we wished to say, excepting this: the blood had long since become dry, during the two years which had elapsed, but no notice taking away the land appeared during that time. And what evil has been done during the present year, which should give rise to such a measure being carried into effect ?