E—No. 9 Sec. VI.

several of the Chiefs of the immediate vicinity who came to call upon me, and I visited each of them in return. I found them perfectly willing to accept the proposals which were made to them, and they displayed a high degree of intelligence in discussing the various points, which gave me great confidence in dealing with them. Having fully informed them of the course which Your Excellency proposed to take, I told them, one by one, that in adopting the system proposed they would ultimately obtain the management of their own lands ; but that in the first instance they must settle all d'fputes among themselves, concerning ownership and boundaries, and they must submit themselves to the law both for the repression of crime and for the administration of justice between man and man. Before entering into any negotiation with them, I said that Shirley's case must be settled, as I should not entertain any proposals from them for the acceptance of a system of government until they should have undone the violent act of which thev had been guilty; and I offered to show them how to obtain justice by legal steps upon their restoring all the cattle which they had taken from Shirley. As these remonstrances ami promises were made to the Chiefs of the district, Tareha, Renata, Karaitiana, and Karauria, I left it to them to take the proper steps with Paora Kaiwhata, the Native particularly interested. They assented readily to my offer, and I left for the interior, informing them that when Shirley's case was settled I should be prepared to meet them in public to receive their answer to Your Excellency's address. Before leaving I communicated to the Magistrates my views, and obtained their consent to sit on a day named, along with Native Assessors, at a place in the neighbourhood of the Shirleys' farm, to go into the whole case. I arranged also that, upon the restoration of the cattle, summonses should be granted to the Native Kaiwhata, on his application, against the two Shirleys, under the Wellington Impounding Act. I then proceeded to the Te Aute, Waipukurau, and Porangahau districts, and either visited personally or communicated with all the villages in this part of the Province. Everywhere I was received cordially, and had the pleasure of ascertaining that Your Excellency's proposals had been carefully considered with a highly favourable result. Certain difficulties of the " grass money" order I placed in a way to settlement by process of law. None ot them were of a pressing or important character, with one exception, which involved many important considerations. A settlor named Mason had agreed with a party of Natives to occupy at a certain rent a small block of laud in the neighbourhood of his run. He had paid rent for some years, when the Chief Te Hapuku, on behalf of some of his followers and himself, claimed an ownership in the same land, and demanded from Mason a fresh payment to himself of the whole amount which Mason had from first to last paid the other party. Mason resisted this claim. Te Hapuku seized some of the sheep, but afterwards negligently allowed them to stray Lack again. Shortly afterwards, no settlement being come to, Te Hapuku went on Mason's run, mustered all the sheep, and drove off about 2,400 head, leaving not moie than 300 in Mason's hands. I learned also that Te Hapuku had expressed his determination to shear the sheep and so to pay himself. On visiting Te Hapuku I expressed my anger and sorrow at the illegal act which he, a professed friend ot the Europeans, had committed. I told him that his proper course was to settle his disputes with the other Natives; that if he did so and proved his ownership, the Governor would by and by permit him to let the land to Europeans and would secure the payment of his rent by law; but that on laud in dispute no European would be permitted to settle, and therefore no rent would accrue to him. I showed him that the rest of the Natives were prepared to accept your Excellency's proposals, and that he, if he did not follow their example, would be excluded from the benefits which the others would derive therefrom. After hearing patiently all that he had got to say, I left him with an intimation that on a future day I should see him again and learn his determination. I then, fearing very much that Te Hapuku would prove a difficult man to deal with and be an obstacle to the ready acceptance of any general scheme, proceeded carefully to take such measures with the leading natives of the district as were in my opinion best calculated to detach them from Te Hapuku and to cause them to join those who desired order and gocd government. This was by no means difficult. I found all eager to join in the movement. When I announced my intention of holding a general meeting in the neighbourhood of Napier (Pa Whakaairo) the Chiefs at Te Aute at once promised to attend: but those at Waipukurau, Porangahau, Eua Taniwha, and Waimarama, being distant, and at the time engaged in sheep-shearing for the Europeans, could not attend at the Pa Whakaairo, but desired that a meeting should be held at a place central for themselves. This I conditionally promised to do; but time not permitting it I afterwards wrote to ask them to await the arrival of the Civil Commissioner. When approaching Te Hapuku's pah (Pokawa) on my return, I met him coming to see me. He informed me, in a very surly manner, that he had been about to shear the sheep, but that after my visit to him he had stopped the building of the yard which was being constructed for the purpose, and that he was permitting the sheep to stray home again. He gave me to understand further that he would permit those who claimed the laud to meet together and settle their claims without his interference. This was quite enough. I knew that the claimants on both sides were ready to adopt this course, and that Te Hapuku's arbitrary interference had been the chief obstacle to a settlement of the dispute. A few days afterwards I learned that in one particular Te Hapuku had been better than his word and had not only permitted Mason's sheep to go back, but had himself sent them back by his men. Some of the sheep were, however, still missing. I considered that this result was most important. I took care to follow it up as far as possible by inducing the opposing claimants to take actual steps for settling the claim amicably, and this they

HAWKE'S BAY.

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