I.—2A

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the thing rested with you. As you have agreed, I will go to Auckland; if you had not agreed, I would not go." The next day we went to Auckland by horse. "We arrived in Auckland in the evening, and went to Nelson's house. "We had tea there, and afterwards we entered more fully into the question of the price of the land. Hori te More and Arama Karaka said to Nelson, " The price that we agree to for the land is £1,600." Nelson said,""Well and good." I asked how many acres were in the block, and I was told 20,000. After the whole thing had been settled, and Mr. Nelson got the land according to arrangement, I asked him to advance some money to Arama Karaka and Hori te More that evening. I said to him, " Have you no money?" He said, " Yes, I have money." " Well," I said, " you had better give these persons some money for them to knock about with in town." Mr. Nelson then turned round to his wife and asked her to give Hori te More and Arama some money. She said, "How much shall I get?" He said, "£100." The money belonged to his wife. She brought the money, which was in gold, and she laid it before Mr. Nelson, and he divided it, giving £50 to Arama Karaka and £50 to Hori te More. After they received the money I made a memorandum in my book, so that there would be no difficulty afterwards in regard to it. We returned to the town, and when we got there those people, out of consideration for me, gave me £10 each out of the moneys they had received. Arama Karaka and I that night returned to town, and Mr. Nelson went to see Mr. Brissenden, to tell him that he had arranged for the sale of the land. The next day was Saturday, and Mr. Nelson did not appear. The next day we went to seek Mr. Sheehan, who was at the Council Chambers, and we found him. Then we went to a hotel and talked the matter over. Mr. Sheehan was told that the sale had been arranged, and he said, " Very well." That day Mr. Brissenden went and got a sum of £1,600, and towards evening he brought it to the hotel, and laid it on the table. There were present myself, Hori te More, Arama Karaka, Mr. Sheehan, Mr. Nelson, and Mr. Brissenden. The money was poured out on the table and divided into two lots, £800 in each. Mr. Nelson said to me, "Do you be careful, and note everything that is going on, in order that you may be clear about it." I told him I would. Then Mr. Brissenden said; " This is my word : we will divide the money into two parts ; take one part to the bank and lodge it there until the Government has completed the purchase of the block, when it will be paid ; the remaining £800 will be given to Hori te More and Arama Karaka." We gave our consent to that division being made of the money, £800 being lodged in the bank, and £800 being paid to Hori and Arama. Then Mr. Brissenden addressed himself to Arama and Hori te More, and told them that they must refund ths money paid by the European for the timber, £100. Then, after the money for the European had been taken out of the £800, the balance was divided between the two persons. Arama Karaka and Hori te More each got £350. Then Mr. Nelson said to Hori, " You had better pay the £50 that my lady gave you the other evening ;" and Hori te More did so, putting the £50 on the table. Then he said to Arama Karaka, " Do you also pay the £50 that you received as your share the other night at my house." Arama complied, putting £50 on the table. This made up the £100 they had received. It left the balance with one at £300, and with the other L3OO. After this Mr. Nelson said to'Hori te More, "Also pay the money you received at Helensville, £20." Hori te More agreed to pay that £20. That left him £280. This is all that I saw. Arama Karaka collected his money together and put it in his trousers, and Hori te More did the same. Then I was asked by Brissenden and Nelson to sign my name to a paper connected with this money. I did so, and Mr. Nelson and Mr. Sheehan signed their names. Arama Karaka and Hori te More had signed their names before this. After this Arama Karaka said, " I should like to take £150 out of this money to pay back the money I have paid for the survey." Mr. Sheehan said, " That is quite right. You can take your money." And I said, "You have the money in your possession." Arama also said that out of that he would devote £50 for the purchase of some clothes for Wi Apo's child, and to keep him at school. Then Mr. Sheehan and Mr. Nelson both sang out together, " Yes, that is quite right; it is a very proper thing to do." I have nothing more to say to the Committee. After this they went out, and I went away to the place where I was staying. 1215. The Chairman.~\ With regard to this £50 that Arama said he would pay for clothing for Wi Apo, did I understand you to say that was to come out of the £150 that Arama was going to keep, or out of the other £150 ?• —He took first of all the £150 for the survey ; and then after that he said, " I want £50 to buy clothing for the child," and then betook another £50. 1216. That left £100 for the trust?—Of course Ido not know. I saw only £100 left. He had taken out of that £150 the £50, and separated it from the other sum. He wrapped it up, and I saw nothing more of it. He took it away. Whether he put it in the bank Ido not know. Wi Apo did not get that £50. 1217. How do you know that ? Of course you cannot speak of your own knowledge. I want you to tell what the document was that you signed ? —I was only a witness. I did not know what the document was. I was asked to sign, and I signed it. 1218. You were a witness ?—Yes. 1219. And you did not know the contents of the document ?—I did not know what the contents were. I simply signed as a witness to what I saw at the time. Mr. Nelson told me that the document had reference to the £800 which had been advanced, and the £800 which had been held back for the completion of the purchase. Then Brissenden said, "You had better sign it;" and I did so. 1220. Mr. Bheehan.~\ When you met Adam Clark at Makarau, did you and he talk about what he was wanted for. Did he know what he was wanted for ? —He was there on account of a meeting. It was through a letter he had received from Mr. Nelson. 1221. Did Adam Clark know before he went to Makarau that he was going down to see Nelson about the sale of the Pakiri Block ? —'That was explained in a letter. It said, " Come hither; we will talk over the sale of Pakiri." 1222. Then, when you and Adam Clark left Makarau for the Awaroa, you both knew you were going down to talk about the sale of the Pakiri Block ?—Yes. 1223. You have also told us that when you got to the Awaroa you had a good deal of talk about the matter?— Yes. That was where the talk took place.

Te Remara TauMa. Aug. 19,1880.