A.—3a,

8

In testimony whereof we have caused this our Proclamation to be sealed with the Seal of our Colony of New Zealand. Witness our trusty and well-beloved George Grey, Esquire, Governor-in Chief in and over the Islands of New Zealand, at Government House, Auckland, this twenty-fourth day of November, in the eleventh year of our reign and in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven. G. Geey, By His Excellency's command. Governor-in-Chief. Andrew Sinclaie, Colonial Secretary. God save the Queen !

No. 8. Copt of a Despatch from Governor Geet to the Eight Hon. Earl Geet. (No. 7.—Executive.) Mt Loed, — Government House, Auckland, 9th March, 1848. The enclosed petition* was recently transmitted to me in order that it might in the usual course be laid before Her Majesty, to whom it is addressed. Tour Lordship will observe that it is signed by the Bishop, the Chief Justice, and other of the public officers of this colony. Upon the whole I thought it more prudent not to address any communication to the Chief Justice upon the subject of his signing this petition; but I have delayed forwarding it until I had seen and spoken to other officers of the Government who had signed it, and I find that they had not really carefully considered your Lordship's instructions, and had been misled by the statements made by other persons. I therefore merely stated that I thought for the future they had better abstain from signing petitions which censured the Government under which they were acting until they had acquired more accurate information upon the subject regarding which they intended to petition. In conclusion, I have only to state that I have repeatedly and in various ways drawn the attention of both Europeans and Natives to the fact that your Lordship has instructed me most scrupulously to fulfil whatever engagements have been contracted with the Natives, at the same time declaring it as your opinion " that no apparent advantage could be suffered to weigh against the evil of acting in a manner either really or even apparently inconsistent with good faith." I have, however, unfortunately found a small portion of the European population so influenced by prejudice that they could not understand even such language as I have above quoted. With the Natives upon the other hand I have had less difficulty, and I do not think that, at any period in the existence of this colony, their minds have been more free from suspicion and alarm than at the present moment. I have, &c, The Eight Hon. Earl Grey. _____________________„ G- Q-bet.

No. 9. Copr of a Despatch from Governor Geet to the Eight Hon. Earl Geet. (No. 10.) Mt Loed, Government House, Auckland, 10th March, 1848. In obedience to Her Majesty's Instructions which accompanied the recent New Zealand Charter, I have the honour to enclose a transcript of a Proclamation which I this day issued, declaring what part of the Island of New Munster adjacent to Cook Strait should be excepted and excluded from the Province of New Ulster, and form part of the Province of New Munster; and I have the honour to request that this Proclamation may, in the usual maimer, be laid before Her Majesty for confirmation or disallowance. I have, &c, The Eight Hon, Earl Grey, &c. G Geet.

Enclosure in No. 9. Proclamation. Victoria, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, and so forth, &c. Wheeeas, in pursuance of an Act made and enacted in the Parliament holden in the ninth and tenth years of our reign, intituled " An Act to make further Provision for the Government of the New Zealand Islands," we have been pleased to issue certain Letters Patent (being the New Zealand Charter), and certain Instructions accompanying the same: And whereas, in pursuance of the said recited Act, and in exercise of the powers thereby in us vested, we did by the said Charter grant, ordain, and appoint that the said Islands of New Zealand should be divided into two separate provinces, to be called respectively "The Province of New Ulster " and " The Province of New Munster;" and we did by the said Charter declare, ordain, and appoint that the limits of the said provinces respectively should be determined in manner and form prescribed and provided for in and by the said Instructions hereinbefore mentioned : And whereas, by our said Instructions, we did ordain and appoint that the Province of New Ulster should comprise the whole of the Island hitherto called " The Island of New Ulster," with the exception of those parts of the said Island adjacent to Cook Strait which the Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand might by Proclamation, to be issued in manner in the said Instructions provided, except and exclude from the Province of New Ulster: And we did further ordain and appoint that the parts of the Island of New Ulster which might; be so excepted and excluded, with all the remaining parts of the New Zealand Islands, should constitute the Province of New Munster; and, further, that the dependencies of New Zealand should respectively constitute a part of, and be considered as attached and belonging to, the respective provinces to which they may severally be most contiguous :

* This petition is not on record.