4

Colonial Secretary's Office, g IR Auckland, 12th October, 1854. With reference to your letter of the 3rd instant, representing »h P J ■ bleness of permitting the Oriental Bank Corporation, of which you are an a'""" to extend their business to this colony, I have the honor by direction ofX' Officer administering the Government in Council, to inform you that thVr ment consider it would be for the advantage of the public if another )T?" ment for the purpose of carrying on Banking bus,ner(there benTj onwl: Sh ; present, the Union Bank of Australia) were established in the colonv -inrl appears that the Oriental Banking Company is of confirmed r P f.' V 1 Excellency has addressed H. M. GoLnm.St, lo Is'Ty' ZeiLnd. g Com P an 7 to extend its operations to the colony of New I have, See., (Signed) Wm, Gisborne, J. A. Cargill, Esq., F ° r the Colomal Secretary. Agent for the Oriental Banking Company.

ENCLOSURES TO MESSAGE NO. 55..

Land Purchase Department, y Auckland, 31st August, 1855; Ihe native chief, Te fiapuku, has purchased a vessel frotr. W S Grahame, Esq., of this city, for a sum of twelve hundred pounds (£1,200) for which amount he agrees to hand over to the Government a valuable block of land in the Ahuriri District, and if his Excellency approves of this purchase, TeHapuku will at once execute a conveyance to the Crown of the land in question and authorise the amount payable to him for the said land to be handed over to W S. Grahame, Esq. As this chief has been instrumental in obtaining large tracts" of country for the Government, I should respectfully recommend that his Excellency might meet his wishes by sanctioning, when the money is authorised by the Assembly, that it should be handed over to W. t>. Grahame, Esq., for the vessel, instead of sending it to Ahuriri. ' (Signed) Donald McLean, Principal Commissioner. The Hon. the Colonial Secretary.

Auckland, August 31, 1855, Friend the Governor, Salutation to you. What are your views towards me, now that I have been six weeks in Auckland waiting the payment for my land. Therefore do you give me £5460. Ido not care about the rest at present. But lam thinking about supplies for the vessel and food for the crew. If you are not willing to let me have the money what am Ito do for food ? Am I to eat the rigging or the sails, or the planks of the vessel. Ido not wish to receive the money by'instalments, because I did not sell the land to you in small lots, but in extensive blocks. It was for this reason that Mr. McLean advised me to come up to Auckland, when I had arranged the preliminaries with Mr. Cooper, but on my arrival here you told me that all the money was returned to England, and I have hecome embarrassed through living in your town. I cannot go away without paying for the trousers and waistcoat for which I was measured. And now you wish me to jw. \«. return empty handed to iny home. But my land has been occupied by Europeans