E.—No. 4

and against Ruihana and Tamihana of Waikato Heads, for detaining the Sheep for about three months, thereby destroying the Wool, and charging me Grass money and Ferry charges contrary to their agreement with Government, are fully detailed in my letters of 28th October, 1861, addressed to the Resident Magistrate, Whaingaroa, and by him forwarded to the Attorney-General; and of 1st February, addressed to the Colonial Secretary. The sanction of the Runanga presided over by W. Nero, that I was to receive 10 shillings for the destruction of the feed, and 10 pigs for the destruction of the lambs, proves that the Natives have admitted the truth of the charges against them : at the same time making a mockery of my loss, W. Nero saying " Your Clover is no more to the Maori than flax or fern." To enable me to prove in your Court the first and principal charges, I shall require the presence of the following Witnesses : —Mr. Harsant, R.M., J. R. Stewart, Mr. R. Ferguson, W. Nero, Ihaka Hetaraka, and Watine; to prove the detention of the Sheep at Waikato Heads, Kihirini, Ruihana, and Tamihana. This letter will be given in charge of the Postman, who leaves to-day, to be delivered to you on the Road, or left at Mr. Spargoe's, as requested. I have, &c, J. C. Johnstone. J. Armitage, Esq., R.M. Raglan, 31st March, 1862. Sib,— I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th instant, wherein you refer me to certain letters of yours addressed to the Resident Magistrate of Raglan, and the Hon. the Colonial Secretary. As I have no access to such documents, I must again request you will furnish me with the particulars required in my letter to you of the 24th February last. I am about to proceed to Kawhia, but shall return here on the 7th or 8th April next, when I can attend to this matter. I have, &c, James Armitage, Resident Magistrate, Lower Waikato. J. C. Johnstone, Esq., Te Haroto, Waitetuna. MINUTE BY J. AEMITAGB, R.M. The above letter was delivered personally to Mr. Johnstone, at Raglan, by my clerk. He replied that he wished to see me on other matters than the subject of this last letter, and he had an interview with me on the day of the date of the letter to the following effect: — He first enquired in a very friendly manner whether I had been present at any official investigation made by Mr. Fenton in reference to a personal dispute or altercation between him (Mr. J.) and W. Nero. I replied, that, on the occasion of Mr. Fenton's visit to Whaingaroa he was acting Civil Commissioner, and as such my superior Officer, and that I could not consequently disclose any thing in reference to our official duties without his (Mr. F.'s) consent, Mr. Johnstone took a note of this reply. I then informed him that the Government considered he had been a great sufferer by the detention of his sheep, and were very anxious to have the matter fully investigated. I again requested particulars, which he promised to furnish me with. I asked him if he had receipts for his alleged payments, and he replied he had not. I then asked him if he would inform me what was his object in seeking this enquiry, and whether he sought pecuniary compensation from the Government, or not. He gave me no decisive reply to this question, except that he would write me thereon. He further stated that W. Nero and his tribe were then living upon his land, and running their pigs on same ; and wished to know if I would summarily eject them (men and pigs), as he objected to their doing so any further. After some conversation, I ascertained from him that W. Nero and tribe occupied land under him—originally with his consent— under a promise of payment ot annual rent, which latter had not been paid. I then informed him that it appeared to me, from his own admission, there was a legal tenancy formed, and that he must terminate such tenancy by due course of law. He asked, how ? I told him he must consult his legal adviser on that point. He asked me, if I would as3ist him to get Nero's pigs removed from his land ? I replied, I must have time for consideration before giving him any reply thereto. He asked me to write this down for him. I declined acting as his clerk. He then stated that if 1 would not get the pigs removed, he would shoot them. I warned him of the consequences of taking the law into his own hands, and the interview terminated. The above was the substance of all that passed on the occasion, to the best of my memory and belief, except that he stated his land was not fenced, in reply to my enquiry as to same. I do not remember his applying to me to examine any witness on. that occasion ; but, had he done so, I should have stated that I was engaged on public business, and could not then comply with such request, as the Runangaat Nga Ti Mahanga were waiting for me, and I could not keep a few hundred people waiting on his account. On my return to Raglan, from Aotea, on the 9th April, I received the following letter from him : —■ " Te Haroto, Waitetuna, "April 5th, 1862. Sib,— In reply to your letter, dated the 31st March, I have the honor to state that my complaint against tlie Nga Ti Mahanga Natives is, that last year, taking advantage of the unsettled state of the country, they turned this farm into a pig-run—these pigs having destroyed the feed and eaten the lambs. The Resident Magistrate, unable to afford me redress, referred the matter to the Native Magistrate, who held two Runangas on the subject; while admitting the truth of the complaint, the Runanga made a mockery of it, the President (W. Nero) saying to me, ' Your clover is no more to the Maori than flax or fern.' At the second Runanga, I proposed that they should look at the bones of some lambs recently killed, but the Runanga considered it unnecessary, as the truth of the complaint was admitted, and I was awarded ten pigs (I had repeatedly refused to take pigs) for the lambs killed, and ten shillings for the clover destroyed. Thus forced to send away my sheep, they were stopped at Waikato Heads by

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NATIVE AFFAIRS.