D. —No. 16

OF NATIVE RESERVES.

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SCHEDULE E. CLASS A. 2.—Trusts under Provisions of Crown Grants or Legislative Enactments. Lands in the West Coast of the Province of Nelson set apart for Charitable and other purposes under the provisions of the Native Reserves Act, 1856.

No. 15. Major Heaphy, V.C, Commissioner of Native Eeserves, to the Hon. the Native Minister. Sir,— Wellington, 6th August, 1870. I have the honor to forward a report on the Native Eeserves in the Province of Marlborough. I have, &c, The Hon. the Native Minister, Charles Heaphy. Wellington. Commissioner of Native Eeserves.

Enclosure in No. 15. Eeport on Native Eeseryes in the Province of Marlborough. The Eeserves in the Province of Marlborough consist of a number of blocks on the wooded sides of Queen Charlotte's Sound, Port Gore, and the Pelorus Eiver, some valuable estates in the Kaituna Valley, on the northern side of the Wairau Eiver, and in White's Bay, near Port Underwood, together with the Kaikoura Block of 4,800 acres, and several smaller pieces of land lying inland and to the southward of the peninsula of that name. The appended schedule shows the classification and detail of area of the Eeserves. They consist of 44 blocks (of which three have been granted) and contain an area of 21,404 acres. The Native population of Marlborough, comprising portions of the Ngatiawa, Eangitane, Ngatekuia, and Ngaitahu tribes, amounts to 369 souls. The above-mentioned area is equal to 58 acres for each Native. The schedule shows that the Government has taken upon itself the responsibility attaching to the administration of five of the Beserves, and is indirectly responsible for the inviolability of the remainder. The Beserves are fully equal in value to the bulk of tho land, respectively in each district. They are unlet, in so far as the Government has any cognizance, and generally in the occupation of the Natives as plantation places, villages, fishing stations, and woodcutting bushes. There are no town sections reserved for Native use, nor any educational or charitable endowments in Native reserved land. Although well acquainted with the localities of the Eeserves, I do not feel competent at once to indicate a manner in which they could be more advantageously dealt with. A longer and more intimate knowledge of the condition and wants of the respective Natives interested in them is necessary before it can be determined how they can be made most productive. The interests of the Natives, however, require that many of the Eeserves should be individualized in title by the action of the Native Land Court. Before this can be accomplished the Beserves in the Sound, Port Gore, and at the Pelorus must be surveyed. I have estimated the cost of this work, and find that at the usual contract rates a sum of £550 will be required. The Natives are not likely to have the means of meeting this expense, but it might be practicable for certain of the lands to be let, and the results applied to replace such a sum as that mentioned, if advanced by the Government. The very ample reservation of land for the Natives in these districts, where in Marlborough the average is 58 acres, and in Nelson 120 acres for each Native, has not failed to have a good effect on the minds of the Northern Natives, '' If", the latter argue, " the Pakeha means eventually to dispossess us of our lands, why does he take care of a handful of slaves who are powerless against him, on the other side of Cook's Strait ?" Charles Heaphy, Commissioner of Native Eeserves.

No. DlSTEICT. Aeea. Remarks. Karmea A. B. P. 510 0 0 Reserved in 1860 for Charitable and Educational purposes, and brought under the operation of the Native Reserves Act, 1856. Comprises sections No. 1, 2, 3, and 54, Karamea. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Wharatea River, North of Buller Buller ... Mokihinui Heaphy River North Bank of River Grey, opposite junction of Arnold Upper Grey, at the junction of the Ahaura Karamea Township ... Westport Do. Cobden Do. Orowaiti, Buller South Bank of Buller 500 0 0 500 0 0 160 0 0 100 0 0 1000 0 0 700 0 0 Do. Do. 10 0 0 10 0 0 10 0 0 50 0 0 100 0 0 Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Reserved in 1860 for Hakarina Te Piki, and subsequently, with, the owner's consent, brought under the operation of the Native Reserves Act, 1856. 48 46