J.-5

1876. NEW ZEALAND.

PETITION OF TAPA TE WAERO.

Presented to the House of Bepresentatives, llth August, and ordered to be printed, 17th August, 1876.

To the Honorable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. In the matter of the Confiscated Lands on the West Coast, and ceetain Unfulfilled Promises of Native Reserves therein. The Humble Petition of Tapa te Waeuo, a Chief of the Ngarauru Tribe, residing at Waitotara, showeth, — 1. That your petitioner is a member of the Ngarauru tribe, and now resides with his people at Kaipo, near Waitotara, in the District of Wanganui. 2. That your petitioner was, in September, 1865, an occupant of the Wereroa Pa, and was present during the negotiations with Governor Sir George Grey for the surrender of that pa to Her Majesty's Colonial forces. 3. That your petitioner and TJru te Angina, another chief of the Ngarauru tribe, were in command of the Wereroa Pa at that time, and were instrumental in defeating a treacherous design on the part of some of the inmates to take the life of the Governor, who was within easy reach of their guns. 4. That your petitioner and Uru te Angina were anxious for peace, and prepared their own house for the reception of the Governor and his suite, hut were overruled by the rest of the tribe. 5. That, after the capture of the Wereroa Pa by Sir George Grey and the Colonial forces, your petitioner, with others of his people escaped to Okotuku, where they occupied one of their old kaingas, and remained for a time in quiet possession. 6. That in the following year your petitioner and his people built a bridge across the Mangapouhatu Stream, and performed other acts of ownership on the land; and that about this time they were visited by the Hon. Major Atkinson and the Hon. J. C. Richmond, who then proposed making a Native reserve at Okotuku, although nothing was definitely arranged. 7. That in the year 1867 the survey of the Okotuku District was commenced under Mr. Percy Smith, and was opposed by your petitioner and his people, who regarded it as an unwarranted taking of their land. 8. That in the same year Mr. Boolh, R.M., visited the Ngarauru to arrange about the reserves, on which occasion a plan for the taking of his life was frustrated by your petitioner, whose instructions were, " Let us kill him with words, not blows." 9. That in the year 1868 Titokowaru's war commenced, and the troops under Colonel Whitmore, with a Native Contingent composed of the Wanganui part of the Ngarauru, the Ngatiapa, the Bangitane, and the Muanpoko, went to Okotuku, where a pitched battle took place. 10. That in the same year Titokowaru and his followers made a raid upon the Waitotara, for the purpose of pressing the resident tribes into their service. 11. That at this time your petitioner and those who were acting with him exerted themselves to aid the escape of cettain pakehas who were settled on the land ; and were instrumental in saving the lives of Charles Durie, Mona Bees Lingard, Richards, and others, whom they escorted in safety to the Wereroa Barracks. 12. That at a later period your petitioner was put under arrest by Mr. Booth, R.M., and was carried off to Wanganui, on the suspicion of being a rebel. 13. That, on the occasion of Governor Bowen's visit to Wajiganui, your petitioner, on the representations of Major Kemp and Mete Kingi, was released from custody, and received a safe-con-duct pass back to his own district. 14. That, on your petitioner's return to Papatupu, he found Titokowaru there, and all his own people (33 men, besides women and children) in the hands of the rebel chief, and completely in his power. 15. That your petitioner and his people were induced to assist Titokowaru in the building of the Taurangarika Pa, and that, on the capture of this pa by Colonel Whitmore and the Colonial forces, they accompanied Titokowaru as far as Patea, and then allowed him to go on ; and that after this your petitioner was in no way concerned in any of the fighting on the West Coast. •