A.—No. 7,

12

NOTES OE THE PROCEEDINGS DURING THE

Wi Tana Papahia said : Welcome, Governor! I have nothing to say to you except that which the Chiefs of Hokianga have already addressed to you. Welcome to you; welcome, Mr. McLean, welcome. There are no people to welcome you here. Come and see the canoes floating on the tide at Hokianga. Let the Europeans and Natives be united as one people ; let the tie that binds us be as close as marriage. These fields and places are all for the Government. All I have got to say is, welcome. Come and see the tribes of Hokianga who uphold you. It is for you to consider every word the Chiefs of Hokianga have spoken. If you agree to what they say it is good and well. It is for you to consider the talk about guns and powder; it is for you to consider all these matters about the laws and about the guns and the ammunition; that is all 1 have to say. Kapeeieea said : Welcome, Governor ! I belong to the North of this Island. lam only a young man. Welcome, Governor ; welcome, Mr. McLean ; welcome, bring peace and good-will, and bring the laws in your hand. I think the law is a parent to all the good. The great father of the people at present is the law. Now peace will grow under the law. Hearing that the Governor would visit Hokianga, we have come hither to welcome him. We have to apologise for the fewness of our numbers here to-day. We welcome you. Heeewini Ma*ngumas?gu said : Welcome, Governor! I have not much to say to you except to welcome you to Hokianga. Come and bring peace and good-will. Welcome, the Governor, friendly to all the different tribes living in New Zealand. In the old days our fathers have lived on terms of peace and friendship with the Europeans, and we have continued to be so. We are only children as yet, but we fulfil the words of our fathers. That is all I have to say. Welcome to you all. Tai Papahia said: Welcome, Governor! welcome, welcome, welcome, Mr. McLean! There is no one to welcome you > no one to call you. ITie people to give you a welcome have all passed away; there is nothing to welcome you but the mountains standing before you. Come on this errand of peace. Mjr word is, peace and good-will; and yqurs is the same. You do your share and I will do mine ; let us meet on terms of equality. Let us both join together. This is not your word alone ; it is mine also. Welcome on your visit to this land. Come, Gevernor, come to these fields of ours. There is nothing else to say to you. Come, welcome, O welcome, Governor. His Excellency the Governor then rose and said : O, Chieftains and people of Ngapuhi and Earawa, I am very glad indeed to be here on a visit to those tribes of Hokianga and the North, of whom I have already heard so much, and who have always been so true and so firm in your loyalty to the Queen. From the earliest days of English settlement your conduct has always been most friendly to the. Europeans. I am very glad that the sentiments of friendship which you have expressed to all the Governors who have preceded me are now repeated to me also. It is gratifying to find that you now believe more in the works of peace than in those of war. In this respect you set a noble example to many of your countrymen in the South. While war and storms have prevailed elsewhere, here there has always been peace and calm. My sentiments in this respect are exactly the same as those which your own chiefs have just expressed. It will be a pleasing duty for me to report to the Queen the manner in which you have kept the promises which you have made to former Governors. lam glad to perceive that you all feel an increasing desire to abide by the laws which are to govern both the Europeans and the Maoris. It is a proof that you are advancing as a tribe in the path of peaceful progress which is the sure road to prosperity. lam pleased to see the excellent feeling that prevails between you and your European neighbours. These feelings are creditable alike both to you and to them. It is obvious that you are not in name only but in reality true friends of each other. This is my first visit, and I have had the opportunity of seeing for myself that the Ngapuhi and Earawa are the great chieftain races that they have always been represented to be. You were the first to welcome the Europeans to New Zealand, and you have always been their most firm friends. I am truly glad that you are co-operating so zealously with the Europeans in developing the rich natural resources of this fair land—l mean, in particular, the flax, the timber, and the kauri gum. In this profitable industry each race is necessary to the other —the Maori to supply the raw material, and the English the mills and manufacture, and to send it away in ships. I am rejoiced to see so many of the great Chiefs of Ngapuhi, and I thank them much for coming here at such a short notice to meet me. I thank you with my whole heart for the hearty welcome you have given me, and I wish you all health and happiness. Haueaei Taipo said : Welcome, Governor ! welcome, Mr. McLean ! Come with your thoughts. The people here welcome the Europeans, but they cannot say that they are numerous enough ; they are very few. There are none but Mr. Mailing and Mr. Webster to look after us. I want more Europeans to come to Hokianga, that we may know the good-will of the Europeans. Welcome, Governor. (He here sang a song of welcome.) Welcome, Governor. There is nothing to say. All I have to say is let us have Europeans here. Aporo said : Welcome, Governor, welcome, Governor ! There are no people to welcome you. Bring peace and good-will, and bring Europeans. Bring Europeans, for there is plenty of land here for them. Listen, Governor ; there is plenty of land in Hokianga. Before out fathers sold this land to you they did not know its value. It was bought with fish-hooks, spades, and tomahawks. Welcome, Governor, to Hokianga. Papahueihia said : Welcome, Governor ! Although there is plenty of talk our words are words of peace and good-will. I had a dream. I dreamt before the coming of Governor Brown that a black man had taken a feather out of my hair, and I told the Governor. The Governor's words are all clear. We quite understand his words to us. lam not a prophet; the Chief Justice is^a prophet. The Governor asked me whether it would be a fine day, and I told him that it would be so. Welcome, Governor. There is only one subject I wish to speak to you about. The law has not been right towards the man who sold the rum. I wish that it should be made right again, as he supplied us with goods from Auckland. I quite understand all that has been said. (The Chief then stepped forward and shook hands with the Governor and Sir George Arney).