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priation of what might under other circumstances appear too large an appropriation of the public money to a small remnant of a tribe which once owned three-fourths of the Middle Island. A question for the Legislature arises in connection with the subject in a financial point of view. The Commissioner who extinguished the Native title on the part of the Imperial Government to greater part of the districts referred to has stated that the pledges given were the main consideration for the sale of the land. It seems only just that the recipients of the land should bear the burden of the fulfilment of the pledges for which it was sold, and that, either by legislation or otherwise, the cost of carrying out the plans referred to ought to be made a charge on the provinces which have been formed out of Ngaitahu territory." In 1865 Mr. Hunter Browne was appointed to administer Native affairs in the southern provinces, but, although various recommendations were made by him as to the best mode of carrying out the non-fulfilled pledges of the Government, nothing of any importance was effected. The first systematic attempt to establish schools in the southern provinces was made in 1867. Prior to that the Natives were chiefly indebted to the early missionaries and to private efforts for the education received. In 1870 there were only three schools in operation in the Middle Island : one at Otago Heads, established in January, 1869 ; one at Ruapuke, opened in 1868 ; and another at Biverton, in Southland. There had been a school at Kaiapoi, but it was burnt down in the summer of 1870, and the want of sufficient funds had prevented it from being rebuilt. It was established there, in the first place, in 1863, by the Christchurch Maori Mission, but was not opened before 1866 owing to want of funds. It was meant and understood at the time that the promises were made to the Natives re the establishment of schools and hospitals that special provisions would be made with all reasonable diligence for the establishment of these institutions, and not that they would have to wait until the requirements of the European community rendered them necessary. In 1865 medical officers were appointed at all the principal settlements. Prior to that date no effective arrangements had been made to provide the Natives with medical aid. It will be seen by the foregoing statements that seventeen years had elapsed before medical aid was provided or an officer specially appointed to administer Native affairs in the South, and that nineteen years after the date of the purchase the first systematic attempt was made to establish schools. The amount spent for medical aid from 1867 to the 31st March, 1882, the date up to which a statement of expenditure was prepared for the information of the Native Affairs Committee, was £2,559 18s. Bd., and for education, until the passing of "The Education Act, 1887," inclusive of cost of buildings and Inspector's salary, was £8,586 19s. lOd. The aforesaid items represent the expenditure for these purposes throughout the southern provinces. Under the terms of the deed pertaining to this purchase the Governor is required to set apart additional land for the Natives on the country being surveyed. No action was taken to fulfil this condition until May, 1868, excepting in the case of the Waikouaiti Reserve, increased by an addition of 594 acres, made by Sir George Grey in 1853, on the personal application of the Natives. An appeal of a similar kind, made by the Moeraki Natives in 1849, met with a negative reply. In 1868 the question came before the Native Land Court on an order of reference made under the 83rd section of " The Native Lands Act, 1865." The Court ordered that additional lands should be set apart in extinguishment of all claims or demands under the deed. The following reserves were accordingly made for occupation purposes : In Canterbury 2,830 acres, and in Otago 2,100 acres, computing -4,930 acres in all. The Court also directed that the reservation in the deed under the phrase " mahinga kai" should also be observed, which was fulfilled by setting apart 212 acres for fishery easements in Canterbury, and 112 acres 3 roods 20 perches in Otago. The fishery easements have for the most part been rendered comparatively worthless through the acclimatisation societies' stocking many of the streams and lakes with imported fish. These fish are protected by special legislation; consequently the Natives are debarred from using nets for catching the whitebait in season, nor can they catch eels or other native fish in these streams, for fear of transgressing the law. Another source of injury done to their fisheries is the drainage of the country. In olden times, before the advent of the Europeans and the settlement of the country, they were at liberty to go at will in search of food, but now, should they chance to go fishing or bird-catching in any locality where they have no reserve, they are frequently ordered off by the settlers. All this is very harassing to a people who not long since owned the whole of the territory now occupied by another race, and it is not surprising that discontent prevails at the altered condition of affairs and the want of precaution observed at the outset by their civilised guardians, who could alone foresee the consequent result of colonisation on their former customs and habits of life, to have either secured them these privileges, or else provided them with additional lands as compensation for depriving them of some of the most important means of subsistence. Another kind of food they have been deprived of is the root of the ti, called "kauru." This was a very nutritious food, and was obtained by baking the root in a Native oven, in which state it contains a large quantity of saccharine matter. Its preparation in places where the tree abounded gave employment to a large number of persons during the months of December, January, and February, it being used as an article of barter, in exchange for other kinds of food, and also for clothing. The general sentiment of the Maoris in olden times with respect to their territorial possessions is not generally understood: it was not "earth-hunger," but "earth-love." They felt keenly the parting with their rights over the land of their ancestors, when the soil, with all its memories and the dignity conferred by its possession, had passed over to the stranger, and in its place they had acquired only perishable goods, or money, which was speedily dissipated. The Natives in the South Island had not realised in former times that their country was about to be occupied by a civilised race in such numbers as would place them in comparative insignificance, or deprive them of the privileges they formerly enjoyed; hence a reason why the superior intelligence of their guardians should have been exercised to protect them against the consequences that would result