E—No. 9 Sec. VI.

returned most of the things; in the second case they crossed the Mohaka, and killed fire pigs belonging to an European upon his own freehold. They had paid him liberally for one of them, and upon the case being brought before me consented to pay £3 each for the othSr four. But if Europeans have had but little to complain of Maori justice, a case was mentioned to me at Mahia which shews that it is sharp and prompt amongst themselves upon occasion. An old couple being encumbered with a sick man who seemed likely to linger for a long time, killed and buried him—suspicion being aroused, the facts were elicited from the woman, whereupon they tied the man who committed the act, dug his grave, shot and buried him within two hours. This occurred within the last two years in the immediate neighbourhood of the Europeans, and was incidentally mentioned to me from the circumstance of my having been discussing the new institutions with the executioner. The information which I gave them as to the Governor's plans gave them great satisfaction. The intimation that he saw, on his return to New Zealand, that their progress in civilization entitled him to call upon them to bear a part of the burthen of their own government and no longer to throw it all upon the pakehas, seemed greatly to please them. I had carefully enquired as to the influence and character of the Chiefs whom I desired as Assessors, and they generally concurred in my selection; in only two cases did they demur to it—in that of Paura Perepu of Mohaka, whom they stated to be the greatest man upon the Coast by birth and whom they were unwilling to lose even temporarily from amongst them ; and secondly in the case of Hotena Tongihaire of Hukutaurua upon some similar ground; but I believe in both cases their real objection was that they thought younger men of greater intellect would do better. I found but one man of any note calling himself a King's man, Henry Te Apatari of Wairoa, known as " the bottle of smoke"; he has some influence and a few followers, and might be troublesome if left in opposition, but will I think be quite disarmed by making him an Assessor, with of course due precautions. 1 believe the new Institutions might be safely introduced in the Wairoa District, as far as its people alone nre concerned, as soon as I have established there a careful, active, and judicious Resident Magistrate. Very much depends upon the selection of those officers, and I think, as a rule, it would be better that they had not previously been mixed up with Native matters. I have named Mr. Samuel Locke for the Wairoa District, being about the best qualified of any who have offered their services, and as he is a single man of active habits, has some knowledge of the language, and will have no other occupation to interfere with his moving about the country, 1 hope he may do well. In the meantime, as he (Mr. Locke) is not yet a Justice of the Peace, I have induced Captain Russell to visit the District this month as a Magistrate accompanied by my Interpreter, as I promised them they should be visited by a Magistrate once a month until one was appointed to live amongst them. I was glad to obtain the services of Captain Russell, as he is so intimately acquainted with my own views, and I think his judgment and discretion quite to be relied on. There is, I understand from him, a case of murder which has occurred at the Wairoa since I was there myself, amongst the Natives themselves, and I have no doubt he will do all that is possible in the matter. I will report more fully upon it when he returns. The Natives pressed me to hold the first General Runanga at Napier as soon as I could return from the General Assembly, which I hoped would be in August. I suggested some more central point upon the Plains, but they stated they had been treated with so much incivility by Renata and the Pahwhakaairo Natives (when they visited them shortly after the Tangifor Moana-nui) because they would not join the King movement, that they would not meet at any place belonging to them. I am not aware whether or not there is any truth in this statement, but as it is stated to have occurred after Pa Whakaairo had been visited by Mr. Crosbie Ward and by Mr. Fox, I thought it remarkable. Upon my return to Napier, I took an opportunity of mentioning to Renata, that having visited te Wairoa district a nd arranged matters there, I was now ready to meet them, as they had proposed to arrange them here. He immediately walked away without reply. I have since visited Pa Whakaairo at their request, (accompanied by Mr. Webber, Provincial Engineer, and Mr. Locke,) to inspect the site for a water mill which they state the Government has promised to assist them to build, (but about which I have no information); and I took a favourable opportunity of referring to the subject, but they again evaded it, and I now feel constrained to give it up for the present. This I should care little for, but for the following reasons. 1st. Until the General Runanga sits we are practically living without law, for notwithstanding the promises made to Mr. Ward and Mr. Fox that the seizure of cattle and such other acts should cease, they have not ceased. But no law can be enforced against the Natives without great risk, until the General Runanga assumes that responsibility, and consequently it is not easy to enforce it against the Europeans. 2nd. The sitting of the General Runanga should precede that of the District or (so called) Village Runanga, so as to form a basis for their proceedings; consequently those who are willing to carry out the New Institutions are paralyzed by those who will not co-operate with them to constitute tha General Runanga. One of my most anxious objects has been to convince the Natives that their plan of seizing horses, cattle, sheep, and even bullocks, when on a journey, will inevitably lead to bloodshed if persevered in; as it is not to be expected that Europeans accustomed to live under and obey the law themselves, will much longer submit to have their property thus lawlessly assailed, but will oppose force by force. Yet at this moment there are 40 head of Mr. W. Cooper's cattle in the hands of Paraone, of Te Aute,

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HAWKE'S BAY.