ZEALAND TO THE SECRETARY OE STATE.

101

A.—No. la.

Now therefore, we your subjects, who have always borne allegiance to your Majesty ever since tho arrival of the first Governor, pray you to send an investigator of sound judgment to inquire into the particulars of this act of injustice. The name of the sub-tribe of Ngatiraukawa to which we belong is Te Mateawa. There are twentytwo grown men of us claiming our piece of land, who took none of the money. Haee Hemi Tahaeapa, Bapeeieei te Mahieahi, Witness to signature— Pouhaeia te Potaua. Pumipi te Baha. Written at Ohau, 4th July.

Enclosure 3 in No. 44. Pumipi te Eaha to Governor Sir Geoege Geet, K.C.B. To Goveenoe Geet, —■ Otaki, 4th July, 1867. I forward this our Petition to you. Please have it sent on to the Queen of England. Pumipi te Baha.

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure 3 in No. 44. Petition from Pumipi te Eaiia to Her Majesty the Queen. To Hee Majestt the Queen of England,— Here do we, Your Majesty's loving subjects, cry to you out of the midst of the injustice inflicted upon us. We had all heard, before the Treaty of Waitangi, that you, the Queen, would take care of us and our lands. We now write to you because of a block of land belonging to us situate at Bangitikei, in the Province of Wellington. We, the Ngatiraukawa, took that land by force of arms prior to the sovereignty of the Queen over New Zealand having been declared, and we have kept possession of it up to the present time. In the year 1862, the General Assembly and the Governor established a Court to adjudicate upon Native Lands. The Government of the Province of Wellington being desirous of purchasing our land, urged the General Assembly to exclude our lands from the operation of the Native Lands Act, in order that it might be bought by the Government of Wellington. To this the General Assembly at once consented. Give heed : Only the land of us, the Ngatiraukawa, has been excluded from the Native Lands Court. We sent a Petition to the General Assembly, praying that that Act might be disannulled in order that our claims might be taken through the Court. We have also been to Governor Grey and shown him our trouble, and requested that our claims to the land might be investigated ; and we have also been to the Colonial Ministers and requested to have our title to the land investigated, but they paid no heed. In December, 1866, the Land Purchase Commissioner, the Superintendent of Wellington, handed over the purchase-money to certain persons who own the land adjoining ours ; he gave money also to tribes dwelling at a distance who had no ground of claim to our land. We have all seen the speech of the Superintendent of Wellingon, made in opening the Provincial Council on the 26th April, 1867, in which he stated he had purchased the whole of our lands, that is, the Bangitikei block. He, upon a former occasion, made use of these words, —" The whole of your lands have gone to the Queen of England." Still we were aware this law was not made by the Queen, but was made at their own instance, by the Assembly at Wellington. Now therefore, we your subjects, who have always borne allegiance to Your Majesty ever since the arrival of the first Governor, pray you to send an investigator of sound judgment to inquire into the particulars of this act of injustice. The name of the sub-tribe of Ngatiraukawa to which we belong, is Ngatikahoro; some of the members of our hapu took of the money; fifteen adults took none of the money. Pumipi te Baha, Witness to signatures— Aeapata te Wiei. Haee Hemi Tahaeapa. Otaki, 4th July, 1867.

Enclosure 4 in No. 41. Paeanihi and Eeuini te Tau to Governor Sir Geoege Geet, K.C.B. To Goveenoe Gret,— Otaki, 29th June, 1867. We forward this our Petition to you. Please let it be sent to the Queen of England. Paeanihi te Tau, Witness to signatures — Eeuini te Tau. Matene te Whiwhi, Akapita te Tewe. Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure 4 in No. 44. Petition from Paeanihi and Eeuini te Tau to Her Majesty the Queen. To Hee Majestt the Queen of England,— Here do we, Your Majesty's loving subjects, cry to you out of the midst of the injustice inflicted upon us. We had all heard, before the Treaty of Waitangi, that you, the Queen, would take care of us and our lands. We now write to you because of a block of land belonging to us, situate at Bangitikei, in the Province of Wellington. We, the Ngatiraukawa, took that land by force of arms prior to the sovereignty of the Queen over New Zealand having been declared, and we have kept possession of it up to the present time. 26