G.-No'l

PETITIONS.

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o ratou tupapaku, ehe ana tenei ki au; no te mea na taua iwi i tiki ake i patu oku tangata, o Ngaitahu, no kona hoki matou nga tangata o Ngaitahu i patu ai i o ratou hei utu mo o ku tupapaku; na, kia rongo mai koutou ko taua whenua kei Waiautoa te rohe ki te tonga, te rohe ki te Rawhiti kei te taha o te awa o Wairau, haere tonu ki runga ki ona maunga, haere tonu ki runga o Waiautoa: ko tenei whenua kahore he utu i a hau, ara i nga tangata o Ngaitahu; no te mea noku taua whenua i mua a tae noa ki te takiwa i takohia ai nga utu e taua iwi e Ngatitoa, no te mea i au te Parokura whakamutunga o ta maua mahi whawhai, no konei ahau i mea ai kei au ano toku whenua; na, he tangi atu tenei naku ki a koutou kia kimihia e koutou te tika i whakaritea ai ma Ngatitoa anake e kai nga utu mo to matou whenua, te tukua mai ai ki a matou ano te ritenga mo te hoko i to matou ake whenua. Ka mutu taku tangi atu kia koutou katoa na to koutou hoa aroha. Na Hohomona Pohio. [translation.] To the General Assembly of New Zealand in Session at WeHington. Wellington, 30th July, 1867. This is the petition of me, Horomona Pohio, an aboriginal Native of New Zealand, which I now make to you, because of my land sold by the Natives of this island to the Government: that is to say, it was sold to the Government by the Ngatitoa, which tribe took tho payment for those lands, as an equivalent for such of them as had been killed by us. To my mind this was wrong: as that tribe went across of their own accord, and attacked my people, the Ngaitahu. Therefore we, the Ngaitahu, had killed some of them by way of reprisal. Now give heed ! The boundary of the land in question on the south is at Waiautoa, toward the east along the course of the Wairau, thence up to its mountains, thence to the mountains above Waiautoa. For this land I, or rather the people of Ngaitahu, have received no payment. That land belonged to me, and was mine up to the time when Ngatitoa received the payment for it. The last battle fought was won by us ; and so I think the land still belonged to us. Now this is my petition, that the whole question be investigated, in order that it may be seen in how far it was right that the Ngatitoa alone should receive payment for land which was our own, and how it was the disposal of our own lands by sale was not left to ourselves. My petition to you ends. Horomona Pohio.

No. 14. PETITION OF THE NGATIKAUWHATA HAPTJ. Ki te Runanga Nui o Niu Tireni. Awahuri, Oroua, Manawatu, Hurae 29, 1867. He kupu inoi tenei, na matou ki to koutou Whare Rangatira kia whakapuaretia te tutaki i Ohau puta noa ki Rangitikei, kia tukua mai te Kooti whakawa whenua Maori ki runga i to matou wdienua ; he kupu kaha rawa tenei na matou ki to koutou Whare Rangatira kia whakapuaretia te whakawa ki to matou whenua, ta to mea e noho mate ana matou i te kore ture e puta ki runga i to matou whenua, na i timata te raruraru o to matou whenua i te tau 1863, tae noa ki tenei wa, na ko tenei Aue ! te mate i a matou, ma wai ra matou e whakaora i te tinana o tenei mate nui ? koia matou ka inoi atu nei ki a koe e te Runanga Nui o Niu Tireni kia tukua mai he ora kia matou. Ko nga ingoa o nga tangata o to matou hapu o Ngatikauwhata, ka tuhia ki raro iho nei. [translation.] To the General Assembly of New Zealand. Awahuri, Oroua, Manawatu, 29th July, 1867. This is a petition from us to your Honourable House, praying that the obstructions excluding the country lying between Oroua and Rangitikei from the operation of the Native Lands Act, be removed, and that the Native Lands Court be permitted to have jurisdiction over our lands. This is a very urgentJappeal of ours to your Honourable House, praying you to cause our land to be open to the action of the Court ; for we are in much trouble, because of there being no law in force over our land.. Now the troubles in respect of our land commenced in the year 1863, and have continued up to this present. And now, as matters exist, alas! what trouble is upon us ! Who will deliver us from the body of this great death ? Therefore do we pray you, the General Assembly of New Zealand, to let us have life. We here subscribe the names of the members of our hapu, the Ngatikauwhata. [Here follow 73 signatures.] 4