17

I.—B

On the 30th September we left Te Taumntu, and on the sth October reached the settlement of Waiteruati on the Eakipawa, having travelled with Tarawata, the principal man among the resident Natives. At the last payment Tarawata and his father, Te Rehe, received £20 between them, and this appears to have been the only sum received by the resident Natives here. He complained much of Horomona Poliio, whom he accused of having appropriated au undue share of the payment for this place. During the progress of the surveys of the three reserves at this place, .of which I enclose a plan, Tarawata's influence appeared unquestionably predominant. He is a man of great determination, and, when roused, of ungovernable temper, but conducted himself throughout my intercourse with him in the best manner. He much wished me to reserve for him a spot inland of Timaru, where he said was a cliff of coal; but, as he refused to accompany me to the place, I was compelled to confirm my already expressed refusal to do so. Hence, in company with Tarawata and Taiaroa, who overtook us at Waiteruati, we went on to Timaru, and, after a day's detention by bad weather, surveyed the reserve at Caroline Bay. As there is no water here in summer save in a hole called Pounihine, 1 I guaranteed to the Natives the right to fetch w Tater thence in common with Europeans. The plans of this and the Umukaha Reserves are lodged with Tarawata. The boundaries claimed by the Unmkaha people are from Hakatire to Makikihi, south of Timaru. The former is undisputed, but the southern part, to the lagoon Puarau (near to Umukaha), is claimed by Horomona Pohio and John Topi. i have myself, after carefully weighing the conflicting evidence, placed Tarawata's boundary at, that is to include, Motumotu whaling-station, leaving the waste lands beyond to be included in the Waitaki payment. On the 20th October we took leave of Tarawata, and with Taiaroa resumed our journey south, and on the 23rd reached Te Kapa's kaika, Tauhinea, near the north bank of the Waitaki. This kaika consisted of two huts, a wata, and a grave. The Natives were all absent, not having returned from Waikouaiti, whither they had gone with a hakiri. We had depended on replenishing here our stock of food, but found none. I therefore the next morning sent the party inland to make Mokihi's, opposite to a kaika, about six miles distant, which some men sent to explore had discovered over night, and remained while Mr. Wills set out a small reserve round Tuahinu, including the huts and cultivation. This I did to avoid, if possible, the necessity of recrossing the river. Rejoining the party, we safely passed the stream on a mokilii, found the opposite kaika deserted, and no provisions but two baskets of potatoes. As Huruhuru, the chief of Waitaki, was expected daily, I remained here a day, and then proceeded about thirty miles south, to Mr. Suistead's station at Otepopo, where, having sent an express to the Natives, I remained until the 3rd November, when Horomona Pohio came as representative of Huruhuru, detained at Waikouaiti by influenza. With him and several Natives, some belonging to Waitaki, I returned thither, and reached To Punaomaru on the 7th. The next day we set out the reserve at that place, of which I enclose the plan, and on the next I also reserved for the Natives the wood on the west bank of the Waikoura, on a precipitous gully, of which I did not deem a survey necessary. To Te Waikorari and Ranitawine, who, with their families, live thirty-six miles inland, at Te Ilakataramea, I promised a reserve should hereafter be made there for them; cautioning them gradually to concentrate their gardens round their kaika, and permitting them for the present to continue to use those rnaras which they stated they had on the way thither. The plans of the above reserves I gave to Huruhuru at Waikouaiti. So far as I could learn, the Natives living on the Waitangi received no share of the last payment, Horomona Pohio having taken what little was allotted to that place. On the 10th we reached Kakanui, wdiere I reserved the land mapped in the accompanying plan. The head man there, Rawiri te Mamaru, who has the Native plan, is a quiet and well-conducted Native. On the 14th November we reached Moeraki, and found there Paitu, one of the owners of the place, who had come in consequence of my letter. He expressed himself much hurt at having received no acknowledgment for his land, none of the last payment having reached the right owners at Moeraki. He further wished the reserve to include all the valuable part of the beach, and all the Europeans' houses and cultivations. As, however, he is a quiet and rather well-disposed Native, with much of the chief about him, I succeeded in bringing him round to my views ; and on the 21st Mr. Wills furnished the survey of the reserve (No. 12), of which I enclose the plan. As this reserve contains no timber fit for sawing, I went the next day to a wood called Te Kuri, a few miles north of Moeraki, where we set off ten acres of timber for the Natives, the land to remain the property of the Government. Very few of the Natives occupying Moeraki belong to this place, the major part having come from Kaiapoi and the Waipara country. They appear to be dying off very fast, which may perhaps be attributable to the stagnant pool which in winter collects in their pa, and to the want of fresh water, there being none within a mile or two of the kaika. From one of them, the Wesleyan teacher and principal man of the place, Matiaha Tiramorehu, I received the greatest support and assistance. Their cultivations are very extensive and very well managed. On my offering them their choice, whether to remain or go to the Kaiapoi Reserve, they preferred to stay, as they had buried many of their relations at Moeraki. The plan of this and of Kuri timber-reserve are with Matiaha. My own copy I enclose. Leaving Mr. Wills at Moeraki to complete the maps, I set out on the 23rd for Otago, to endeavour to procure Colonel Godfrey's reports; but, failing to obtain them, I returned to Waikouaiti, which I reached on the 28th, having, while at Otago, despatched a boat to Ruapuke for John Topi and Kihau. The next day I took the census, which I enclose, and the following day visited the cultivations,

1 This spring is now dried up.

3—l. 8.