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nothing can be traced. We will let this stand over for the moment. Kaea (No. 3) was included in the West Coast Reserve at Mimi; she is therefore disallowed. No. 4, Te Iwi, is disallowed for the same reason. Hereni (No. 5) will stand over for the present. Nos. 6tolo on List 8 are in the West Coast Settlement Reserves at Mimi, and are therefore disallowed. Te Tipi admitted the correctness of these remarks. The Commissioner: No. 1 on List Ba, Maroreaitu, died before the Commission was appointed in 1880. He therefore must be struck out. Te Tipi: Yes, you can strike him out, and also Nos. 2, 3, and 4, and No. 5 is in the same position. The Commissioner: No. 6, Wiremu Shearer, left no children. I notice that there are now a number who appear in List 8; they also will be struck out. John Shearer (No. 12) died before the West Coast Commission was appointed, and had no children; he will also be struck out. Te Tipi: He was alive at the time of the promise. There are no children, but we are all one family; we all come from Hinekorako, No. 2 on List Ba. The Commissioner: Nos. 13 to 22 must be struck out, because they are duplicates. No. 23, Helen Watkins, appears in List 8, and all the rest are children, and we cannot take them now. Te Tipi: The very youngest of Helen Watkins's children is twenty-seven years of age, and had they come forward'in Sir William Fox's time they would all have been included. The Commissioner: They would have been rather young to have come forward then. Te Tipi: That is so; but some of them are over fifty, and the mother is nearly seventy. The Commissioner then went into the whakapapas and verified the genealogies. The Commissioner: Now you are making a claim with regard to Maroreaitu, No. 1 on List Ba. Who do you wish to succeed to him? Te Tipi: He is struck out because he was not alive before the Commissioner made the promise, but the descendants are Inia te Tipi (No. 4) and Hatareta te Tipi. The Commissioner: Are they alive? Te Tipi: They are both dead. Inia had no children and Hatareta had no children. Inia took a trip round the world, and then returned here and died. The Commissioner: That proves he was clearly an absentee. They left no children. What do you wish done? Te Tipi: I thought that they would be both entitled to their share in the land promised. The Commissioner: They have no descendants, and so the land reverts to the Crown. Te Tipi: We are the nearest relatives. My mother, Kaea, should succeed as first cousin. The Commissioner: But she received land in the West Coast Settlement Reserves. Te Tipi: Cannot she succeed through the Native Land Court? The Commissioner: lam not ruling anything; I only want evidence. Who are the next-of-kin to Inia who are still living? Te Tipi: Nos. 1 to s—Makama Shearer, Mere Shearer, Kaea (Mrs. Willison), Te Iwi, and Hereni Birchley. . . The Commissioner: Please show the connection between them and Inia te Tipi. Te Tipi: They are first cousins. The Commissioner: The common ancestor of Maroreaitu and Hine Korako was Kurawiniwini, who married Te Rehu. Is there any objection to this interest in 16 acres being divided amongst the persons mentioned. . . Mr. Skinner: I understand that these persons were both dead before the sitting of the Commission, and left no issue. The others claim, therefore, as second cousins. The Commissioner: It appears that the parents were dead before the sitting of the Commission, and as these others were living when the Commission sat they would be entitled. Mr. Skinner: Had they made application they would have been entitled. The Commissioner: Yes; but as no one made any application we will treat the matter as if application had been made, which will meet our purpose. Mr. Skinner: That is a most important point, and will have to be referred to the UnderSecretary, as it opens up a large question. The Commissioner: It cannot be referred to him, as he is only a witness, or, I should rather say, appears as counsel for the Crown. I am prepared to recommend that the persons entitled to' succeed are the five mentioned—namely, Nos. Itos on List B—and I will recommend that 16 acres be allotted to them. Inia would only be entitled to 8 acres, and Hatareta (No. 5 on List 8a) would be entitled also to 8 acres, as a half share. Te Tipi: They were both fully grown people, and were surely entitled to 16 acres each. We strike Maroreaitu out, and therefore Inia and Hatareta are entitled to 16 acres each. If there had been twenty children they would have been entitled to 16 acres each, providing they had been full-grown. Mr Skinner: As far as the Crown is concerned, the question is to prove whether the names are those which appear upon the list of Mr. Richmond in 1867. It is impossible to ascertain this, because the list is lost. The Commissioner: We will therefore start upon those who are left, because dead people could not have been in that list, but the children should be entitled to a share. Mr. Skinner: That is so. If the parents were alive the children could not be included, except as succeeding to a share of their parents' interest. Te Tipi: This promise was not fully known until 1884, and therefore these two people should have a full share each. Mr. Skinner: What do you mean by that? Te Tipi: The land was not set aside until 1884. Mr. Skinner: There was a full meeting of Natives in Wellington in 1867, and then the claim was settled.

4—G. 7.