A.—No. 1

68

DESPATCHES FROM THE GOVERNOR OF NEW

" institutions have been established are of a social quite as much as of a political " character, and we all know how much a man may be assisted by his wife in the " discharge of social duties." I have, &c, His Grace the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. G. F. BOWEN.

No. 44. Copy of a DESPATCH from Governor Sir G. i\ Bowen, G.C.M.G., to His Grace the Duke of Buckingham. (No. 37). Government House, Auckland, My Lord Duke,— 4th May, 1868. I have the honor to report that I returned last week from a very interesting visit to the Bay of Islands and to Mongonui, the two principal seaports and settlements in the northern part of the Province of Auckland. 2. I enclose copies of the addresses presented to me by the British settlers, and of my replies. 3. Disappointment at the enforced abandonment by the Duke of Edinburgh of His Royal Highness' proposed visit to New Zealand is keenly felt by the Maoris as well as by the Colonists; and my Responsible Advisers, and all others well acquainted with the Native race, are agreed that it is absolutely essential that the Governor should take the earliest opportunity of meeting those loyal tribes which the Duke of Edinburgh had intended to meet. The first visit of His Royal Highness would have been paid to the great Ngapuhi tribe at the Bay of Islands; and I proceeded thither on the 14th ultimo in 11.M.5. " Brisk." 4. Here I beg permission to mention that I had proposed to sail in the " Sturt," a small unarmed steamer belonging to the Colonial Government, and that I applied for a passage in the " Brisk " corvette, now stationed at Auckland, in consequence of the strong representations made on all sides as to the public importance at the present time of my proceeding to the Bay of Islands in a man-of-war. This consideration was pressed upon me, in particular, by Mr. Busby, who was the British Resident in New Zealand from 1832 until 1840, while this country was recognized as independent; who negotiated, in the last-mentioned year, the Treaty of Waitangi, by which the Maoris consented to submit to the sovereignty of the Queen of England.; and who, since that date, has continued to live at the Bay of Islands. The following is an extract from the letter addressed to me by Mr. Busby on this subject:—" The fact is that a man-of-war has always " been looked upon by the Natives as the characteristic of chieftainship. Ido not " remember any instance of a Governor of New Zealand visiting the Bay of " Islands except in one of the Queen's ships. Even when I came to this country I "was sent in a frigate, and landed under a salute; and I feel sure that the " Governor would lose the prestige and weaken the influence of his office if he " were to arrive otherwise than in a man-of-war, especially on his first visit." 5. On reaching the Bay of Islands I found that an unfortunate quarrel had arisen between the Ngapuhi and Rarawa tribes about some disputed land in the interior; that a large portion of the Ngapuhis had proceeded in arms to Hokianga, and that open warfare was imminent. It seems to be hardly understood in England that the Native Districts in the North Island of New Zealand are still in a social condition not very different from that of the Scotch Highlands down to the middle of the eighteenth century. 6. All the Maoris of the North that could be assembled at short notice, met me, to the number of about three hundred, at Waitangi, on the 17th ultimo, on the spot where the meeting of sth February, 1840 —so momentous in its results —was held. This historical site is on the shore of the Bay of Islands, where the river Waitangi (or, " Weeping Water," so called from the neighbouring cascade), falls into the sea amid very beautiful scenery. I was accompanied by the Minister for Native Affairs (Mr. Richmond), by other functionaries of the Colonial Government, and by several officers of H.M.S. " Brisk;" and I was received on landing by the

Enclosures No. 1 to 6.