37

G.—4

No. 1. —Mr. Commissioner McLean to the Civil Secretary, New Munster. Sir, —■ Wairarapa, 2nd September, 1853. I have the honour to report to you, for the information of His Excellency the LieutenantGovernor, that the Wairarapa Natives signed a deed of sale, and were paid the first instalment of £1,000, yesterday for a tract of country consisting of about 150,000 acres, and bounded on the north-east side by the Wairarapa Eiver and Lake, and on the south-west by the lands acquired from the Ngatiawa Tribes, of Wellington. This purchase includes several tracts of country about the Mangaroa and Pakuratae, and other .valleys and mountain-ranges through which the new line of road passes, and to which their claims have not been previouly extinguished, although the presumption has been, according to the maps of the Wellington and Porirua districts, that these tracts had been ceded by the Ngatiawa and Ngatitoa Tribes, whose right to have done so beyond a certain boundary agreed to between themselves and these Natives (the Ngatikahungunu) was, at least, very questionable. The terms of this purchase, as authorised by His Excellency, are a payment of £2,000 in yearly instalments, and 5 per cent, of the net proceeds of all future land-sales within it that may be realised by the Government after deducting the general expenses of surveying and laying-off the land for sale. A first instalment of £1,000, the receipt of which is acknowledged in the deed of sale, was paid over to the Natives yesterday. A second instalment of £500 is to be paid to the Natives in May, 1854, and the last, or third, instalment of £500 is to be paid in May, 1855. The deed of sale provides that the 5 per cent, payable to the Natives, in addition to the following sums, should be set apart for the following purposes, in such proportions and at such periods as the Governor of New Zealand, or an officer appointed by him, and the Natives themselves may mutually agree to : For schools, hospitals, and medical attendance, flour-mills, and annuities for the chiefs who have ceded their lands. But it is reserved entirely to the Governor, or an officer acting for him, as to whom, at what periods, and how these annuities are to be distributed. Eents, which will now cease, to the amount of £120 a year have been paid to the Natives for land leased within this purchase by the parties named in the margin. The survey of such of the external boundaries as are not defined by natural features of the country, and of the Native reserves within this block, demand my immediate attention, in order that the district may be thrown open for selection, and that there may be no disputes or difficulties as to boundaries hereafter with the Natives. The names of the boundaries of the different reserves—only four in number —together with a right of eel-fishing in such places as may not be drained by the Europeans, are particularly specified in the deed of sale, a translation of which I herewith enclose. His Excellency having himself taken an active part in directing how this negotiation should be carried out until it was nearly brought to a termination, I need not enlarge any further on the details connected with it, beyond stating that I have every reason to expect that it has so far satisfied the Natives that it will be the means of leading to the acquisition of additional tracts of land in this valley. I have, &c, The Civil Secretary, Wellington. Donald McLean, Land Commissioner.

No. 2. —Mr. Commissioner McLean to the Civil Secretary, New Munster. Sir, — Wairarapa, 7th September, 1853. I have the honour to report to you, for the information of his Excellency the Governor, that I have concluded the purchase of the lower portion of the Wairarapa Valley. The purchase includes the home stations and runs of several of the settlers, and extends inland from the coast about seven miles. It is well bounded by the Aorangi Eauge of mountains on the east, by the Wairarapa Lake on the west, and by the Paharakeke Stream that falls from the Aorangi Bange inland, the sea forming the boundary on the coast. The consideration for this block, besides 5 per cent, net proceeds on all future land-sales for certain Native institutions, as instructed by His Excellency, is £1,100. Of this amount the Natives have received £700 yesterday, and I have arranged—as there must be considerable outlay for landpurchases this year—that the second and last instalments should not be paid until May, 1855. An intelligent young chicf —Eaniera—who was the principal claimant to both the districts lately acquired by the Crown, was chiefly induced to relinquish his claim so readily to this portion of the valley under an understanding that he should have a Crown grant for a block of land bounded by the lake and Turanganui Eiver on the one side and inland by the Te Kope Eoad to the coast. Eaniera has out of this block given up the right of the ferry, which yielded him a rent of £12 a year, to the Government, besides 80 acres of land for the ferry station, which should be permanently retained by the Government, to insure, under certain regulations, proper accommodation for travellers, and due attention to the ferrying of passengers and stock. Eaniera's block is of considerable extent—probably it may contain 1,400 acres; but this is certainly not more than he is entitled to have a grant for, as he is a proprietor of several horses and cattle, and has arranged this morning to purchase fifty or sixty sheep. It is, moreover, very desirable to secure such possessions to principal chiefs under titles from the Crown, and I therefore beg to recommend that when a survey of Eaniera's land is made His Excellency may be pleased to grant him a Crown title for it,