H.—l3b

2

That, after a careful enumeration, I find the numbers in the six northern counties to be as under, — Bay of Islands County ... ... ... ... ... ... 2,461 Hokianga County ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,825 Mangonui County ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,616 Hobson County ... ... ... ... ... ... 912 Whangaroa County ... ... ... ... ... .. 657 Whangarei County ... ... ... ... ... ... 565 Making a total 0f... ... ... ... 8,036 From the absence of any data in this office regarding the last Maori census, I am unable to make any comparison with the former enumeration; but I believe in 1885 the numbers were somewhere about 8,000. There has been in a few places a distinct reticence in affording information to the enumerators, especially regarding the number of stock and area of cultivations, alleging as a reason that they were fearful lest they should be taxed upon these possessions. In some settlements there is a noticeable decrease of the population, whilst in others there is a marked increase in the families. This may in a measure be accounted for from the fact of the Natives continually changing their residences from one place to another. Their principal occupation is gum-digging. The return will show a very small percentage exercising agricultural and pastoral pursuits amongst them. Their health has been fairly good during the past three or four years. There has been, as must be expected, cases of sickness in these settlements at times, of which low fever is the most prevalent; but these cases have been very few as compared with the numbers of the population. Their habit of camping in low, swampy places during the gum-digging season has also caused several cases of consumption or catarrh amongst them. In some districts they have engaged in timber-felling and cross-cutting, but these instances are few as compared with their former occupation in this way. The labour being hard is now generally left for their European neighbours, whilst they betake themselves to the easier and, to them, more congenial work of collecting kauri-gum. The instances of crime amongst them for the past years have been very few, and their breaches of the law have seldom gone beyond petty larceny; but in a few instances their repugnance to the dog-registration tax has led to their being fined, and, in some twelve or fourteen instances of obstinate refusal, to imprisonment. Taken upon the whole, their behaviour has been peaceable and good. The late Mangatoa difficulty is distinctly traceable to the counsels emanating from Te Whiti, at, Parihaka, and this, together with the ambition of the leader, Hone Toia, to make a name for himself, evidently induced him to inculpate himself in various suspicious ways. Upon this matter I need not expatiate, as the whole circumstance has already been laid before you. I have, &c, Jambs C. Clendon, The Qnder-Secretary, Department of Justice, Stipendiary Magistrate. Wellington.

No. 3. Mr. Bush, S.M., to the Depabtment of Justice. Memorandum for the Under-Secretary. The return gives for Waitemata County a total of 261 persons, being 98 male and 75 female adults, 7 individuals whose ages and sex are unspecified, and 49 males and 32 females under the age of fifteen. In the adults, 12 males and 7 females are half-castes. For Eodney County, the total is 193, made up as follows : males 73, females 60, including 14 male and 8 female half-castes all adults, and 34 males and 26 females under the age of fifteen. For Otamatea County the total is 264: being 119 males, 61 females, including 27 male and 15 female half-castes, and 33 male and 51 females under the age of fifteen. The grand total for the three counties is 718, consisting of 391 males, 285 females, with 27 male and 15 female half-castes. It will be seen that the male adults are more numerous than the females, and that the male children are less in number than either the adult males or females, while the female children are in the same position. The adults exceed the children by 261. The health of the Natives since the last census has been fairly good, and they appear to be in comfortable circumstances, although, no doubt, the long duration of dry weather will affect their plantations, and probably there will be a scarcity of food this winter through failure of the crops. Eegarding their health, the Natives of the Waitemata County do not appear to have suffered from any epidemic since the last census, while those of Eodney and Otamatea have suffered from measles and low fever, which caused a few deaths amongst the very old and the young, beyond this they seem not to have been visited by any serious disease. The Native population of these counties is more or less migratory, as it is chiefly a gum-digging one, which, no doubt, accounts for the increase in the Eodney County. A few Natives appear to have been twice returned, which error has been rectified (see Book 2, pages 7 to 9 for Waitemata, page 8 for Eodney, and page 9 for Otamatea). The migratory nature of the population, no doubt, accounts for the small area of crops. Magistrate's Office, Auckland, 7th March, 1896. E. Bush, S.M.