3

1.—2

the Committee, and exhibited to the petitioner, Tare Wetere. This petitioner positively denied the identity of the deed, which he declared had been fabricated for the occasion; but his own signature as one of the sellers appears both on the deed of sale and on a receipt for the purchasemoney on behalf of his tribe, and Tare Wetere ultimately acknowledged that this was so. The points or places alleged by the petitioners to indicate an inland boundary of the land intended to be sold are not mentioned in the deed; neither is there any allusion to any inland boundary, nor any exception from the area described in the deed and plan, save only as to reserves. On the contrary, both the deed and plan, and the official letters from Mr. Commissioner Kemp, who concluded the purchase, show that the whole of the Island from the boundary of Nelson to the boundary of the Otago Block, was ceded to the New Zealand Company with the full consent and understanding of the Natives, including many of the present petitioners. 2. Te Maiharoa and others complain that the reserves promised them at the time of the sale to the New Zealand Company have not been given to the Natives, and they ask the Government to give them land to live upon. With respect to this prayer the Committee finds that the question of reserves was finally decided by the Native Land Court sitting at Kaiapoi in 1868, when the Ngaitahu claims were specially referred to the Court by the Governor, and the Court awarded such reserves as appeared to be sufficient in final satisfaction of all claims. The present petitioners were fully represented at the sitting of the Court, and the award was made with their knowledge. The Committee cannot therefore recommend either of the two prayers of the petition. They think it highly desirable, however, that the state of the case should be clearly explained to Te Maiharoa and the Waitangi Natives, and that they should be induced, if possible, to leave the place where they are at present settled in the river-bed of the Waitangi, and to occupy some one of the reserves belonging to them. 16th September, 1884.

[Translation.] Nos. 68 and 42.—Pukapuka-inoi a Te Maiharoa me etahi atu. E ki ana nga kai-pitihana i tangohia c te Kawanatanga to ratou whenua i waho o nga rohe i hokona, c mahara ana ratou c he ana tenei c whakaaro ana hoki ratou ko te mea tika hei whakaoti i tenei raruraru me nuku atu nga pakeha i runga i nga whenua Maori me nga Maori i runga i nga whenua Kawanatanga. , Kua whakahaua ahau kia ki penei:— Ko te ahua o te inoi a nga kai-pitihana he mea kia whakahokia katoatia ki nga Maori nga whenua i katapere i Otakou i te taha ki uta o etahi wahi, erangi i runga i te patai a te Komiti kua kite ratou c rua nga inoi c tukua mai ana c nga iwi c rua rereke ana ta tetahi i ta tetahi o nga Maori c noho ana i waitangi (koia tenei). 1. Ko Tare Wetere me era c whakahaerengia nei c ia hui atu pea ki nga kai-pitihana katoa me to ratou iwi c ki ana c whai take ana ratou ki nga whenua katoa o te Waipounamu mo nga Maori kihai hoki i matara rawa atu ki uta i te tahahatika o te moana 0 te tai rawhiti o taua Motu, kua tino kitea kihai rawa te Keremu a tenei hunga i tika. Ko te whenua katoa c kia nei c tino marama ana i uru ki roto i te whenua i hokona c nga Maori ki te Niu Tireni Komupani c mohiotia ana ko te Bira hoko a Ngaitahu i hokona i Akaroa i te tau 1848. Ko te Bira tawhito i mauria mai ano kite aroaro o te Komiti whakaatu ai kite kai-pitihana kia Tare Wetere. I tino whakahe rawa te kai-pitihana kite Bira i mea ia he mea hanga noa mai ma taua Komiti, Otira c man anano tana hainatanga i te pukapuka hoko me tana haina hoki mo nga moni utu o taua whenua mo tona hapu a i muri iho ka whakaae ia c tika ana tana hainatanga. Ko nga wahi i korerotia c te kai-pitihana hei whakaatu i nga rohe o utu o te whenua i ineatia kia hokona kahore i whakahuatia i roto i te Rira kahore hoki he kupu whakaatu mo nga rohe o uta kahore hoki he kupu whakahe mo te rahi ote whenua i roto ite Rira me te mapi, engari mo nga rahui anake. E whakaatu anano te Rira me te mapi me nga pukapuka a te kepa Komihana te tangata nana nei i whakaoti te hoko i te urunga atu o te motu katoa timata atu i te rohe o Whakatu tae atu kite rohe o Otakou Poraka i hokona kite Niu Tireni Kamupani i runga ano i te mohio me te whakaae a nga Maori hui atu ki tokomaha o nga kai-pitihana c noho nei. 2. E whai kupu ana a te Maiharoa me etahi atu c ki ana ko nga rahui i whakaaetia ngutti kautia i te wa i hokona ai te whenua kite Niu Tireni Kamupani kahore ano i hoatu ki nga Maori a o inoi ana ratou kite Kawanatanga kia hoatu he whenua hei oranga mo ratou. Na i runga i nga inoi nei kua kite te Komiti ko te kupu mo nga rahui i tino whakaritea c te Kooti Whenua Maori i noho i Kaiapoi i te tau 1868 i te wa i tino tukua ai nga take a Ngaitahu ki to Kooti c te Kawana a iwhakataua ano etc Kooti etahi rahui imaharatia'e nui ana hei tino whakaoti i nga Keremu katoa. He nui nga kai-whakahaere a nga kai-pitihana i te tunga o te Kooti a i whakataua ano i runga i to ratou Matauranga. Ko tenei kahore c whai kupu te Komiti mo runga i aua inoi c rua nei ate kai-pitihana, Ko to mea tika me ata whakamaraina atu kia te Maiharoa me nga Maori o Waitangi a mewhakahau hoki i a ratou kia whakarerea te kainga c roho nei ratou i te awa o Waitangi a me haere ki runga i tetahi o nga whenua rahui tawhito a ratou ake noho ai. — 16 Hepetema, 1884.

No. 39, Sess. I.—Petition of Petera te Pukuatua and 47 Others. Petitioners apply for a rehearing of a block of land called Kotomahana. Parekarangi, ou the. ground that it has been wrongly awarded. I am directed to report as follows :—