E—No. 9 Sec. Hi.

(1.) The first is the chronic cause of Maori disaffection, the land. So much has been said and written on this subject, that it is unnecessary to do more than mention it. Their feeling- that all their importance is derived from the possession of land, and that when Government has bought it they will be oppressed and despised, is well known. Then, if resolved to sell, they cannot sell with any satisfaction to themselves. We have taught them they possess a valuable thing which they may either sell or withhold, but they do not know themselves—and they can trust no one to tell them—how much it is worth ; thus they are in a feverish uncertainty what price to demand. No man likes to think that he has been taken in, and it is well known that a Native will rather let corn or potatoes rot, than take a price less than what he considers just. Lastly, before selling, they must adjust disputed titles. The land-league holds back all the land, because they cannot sell it without quarrelling amongst themselves. (2.) The second is the bad passions which the faranaki war has left behind. There is the triumphant insolence of the victorious Ngatimaniapotos ; the hatred and fear with which those in possession of plunder regard those they have injured ; the exasperation which the spectacle of poverty and misery, the foretold results of war, has produced in men like Thompson. All the misery which they experience is laid—I do not say justly—at the door of Government; so that the name of Government has come to stink in the nostrils of the Natives, and though the men may be changed, the bad odour of the name cannot be got rid of. (3.) The third is what they regard ao a preparation for military operations on the part of the Government. They cannot believe that peace is to be permanent while a large force of soldiers stays in the country ; they know that they themselves are the only enemy against whom the soldiers can have to fight, and so long as these remain, they cannot help feeling distrust and uneasiness. The road from Drury to the river has not been opposed, because they admit the Governor's right to do what he pleases on the Queen's land; but it is not the less regarded universally with dislike and suspicion. W. Thompson says that it can be made for no other purpose than to brin? soldiers and great gtnu upon the Waikato river. In this neighbourhood there is a great deal of talk about a road that is being made at Taranaki, and William King has several times impressed upon Mr. Clarke that in the event of its coming upon Native or disputed land, there will be war. The road from Whaingaroa to the Waipa was regarded as part of the same imaginary scheme of invasion, and is still vehemently opposed as such by the Ngatimaniapoto and Ngatihaua jointly; with what success I do not yet know. (4.) In the last place, the large sums of money believed by the Natives to be given to the loyal Natives of other districts, are an insuperable bar to the growth of any confidence in this. Natives in all places say openly that we, having failed to conquer them, are now trying to purchase their allegiance to the Queen. Among those who can be bought, the news creates a feverish anxiety to sell themselves at the highest price possible, and jealousy lest any of their neighbours should gain more of the prizes of loyalty than they. Among those who cannot be bought, and this class comprises nearly all the leaders of the King party, the report has produced one strong feeling towards the Government measures —and that is, contempt. I may be mistaken in the causes to which I attribute the hostility of the Waikato Natives to the Government. Those which I have mentioned have been frequently either expressed or implied in their discourse ; but perhaps there may be other and deeper ones concealed. Of the existence of t!>e feeling of hostility, however, there can be no doubt ; in spite of all causes of disunion, it has produced an alliance which among the tribes in this district has become latterly, so far as I can judge, closer than it was before the Government operations commenced. It is this alliance under the Maori King that it now remains for me to describe. II. Of the Government of the Maori King. (1.) The King's Council. Matutaera Potatau, the young man who is called the Maori King, has very little to do personally with the affairs of state. He is carried about by the Natives to most of their great meetings, but he u kept carefully guarded by a body of drilled soldiers, and does not appear on the outside of his house, at least when Europeans are present. In all the Runangas and at all the meetings for business at which I have been present, both before and since I was an officer of the Government, Matutaera has never been present, nor has, so far as I know, been consulted. On two occasions only have I ever heard of his doing anything himself; one, when Thompson went down to Taranaki, on whioh occasion he followed him as far a3 Kihikihi and begged him not to go; the other, when emissaries from Paetai came to tell him that troops had come to the lia, to whom he said, " Be patient, d» not meddle with them; I will come down myself to see what they are doing tiiere, and to take care of my children." Whether this was an original speech or prompted by his councillors, I cannot pretend to say. The King's business is usually transacted by a Council called the Eunanga of Ngaruawaliia. There does not appear to be any particular qualification for admission into this Council ; all the members of if arc Chiefs of high rank, all reside at or near Ngaruawahia, and most of them are relations of the King ; but Eewi, Thompson, Reihana, or any great man from the provinces on a yisit to Ngaruawahia would sit with the regular members and take part in their deliberations. The names of the regular members are :— 1 Wi Tarahawaiki, Wi Karamoa, Honi Papita, Nepe Te Ngakau, Tomu Whakapo, Takerei Te Rau, Patara Tetuhi, Xehemia, Tumuhuia, Hoera Taonui.

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REPORTS OF OFFICERS: