I.—B

8

occurrence of any future disputes or difficulties regarding Native claims to land in that part of the Middle Island. The gentleman appointed to perform this service might perhaps be Mr. Kemp ; but if not that gentleman himself Mr. Kemp must, as the service is one of great importance, be required to perform the duties of interpreter to the Government Commissioner; and, as this is a service which will entail considerable expense and inconvenience upon Mr. Kemp, a fair travelling-allowance must be made to him for the time that he is employed upon this duty. I should not consider an allowance of one guinea per diem as a more than adequate remuneration for the expenses and difficulties he will be subjected to. It only remains for me to press upon you, the necessity of having the service executed with as little delay as possible. I have, &c, His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, New Munster. G. Grey.

No. 2.—Instructions to Mr. Kemp from Lieut.-Governor Eyre. Sir,— Wellington, 25th April, 1848. Eeferring to your mission to the Middle Island as Commissioner to negotiate the purchase from the Natives of certain lands required by the New Zealand Company, I am directed by the Lieutenant-Governor to convey to you the following instructions for your guidance :— The object of your mission is the extinguishment of any title which may upon inquiry be found to be vested in the Native inhabitants to the tracts of country lying between the districts purchased from the Ngatitoa Tribe and that purchased by the New Zealand Company, at Otago. In entering upon the arrangements necessary to affect this object, it will be your duty to reserve to the Natives ample portions of land for their present and prospective wants, and then, after the boundaries of these reserves have been marked, to purchase from the Natives their right to the whole of the remainder of their claims to land in the Middle Island. The payment to be made to the Natives must be an annual one, and be spread over a period of four or five years, as the only means of removing all possibility of the occurrence of any further disputes or difficulties regarding Native claims to land in that part of the Middle Island. Having received from the New Zealand Company's principal agent a letter containing an exposition of his wishes and views on behalf of that body, the Lieutenant-Governor has instructed me to forward to you a copy, together with a copy of His Excellency's reply. 1 Should you find any difficulty in concluding the negotiations satisfactorily within the limits of the amount which Colonel Wakefield has stated that he is prepared to sanction as an expenditure to extinguish the Native claims to the land in question, it will be your duty to submit to the LieutenantGovernor an outline of the most favourable terms which you may consider it would be practicable to effect. From the smallness of the number of Natives, however, and their expressed anxiety to make an immediate sale of their lands, His Excellency does not apprehend any difficulty of this nature will arise, but would hope rather that you may be able satisfactorily and speedily to conclude the whole arrangement, and in that case have it in your power to pay over to the Natives the first annual instalment. The mode proposed by the Lieutenant-Governor for your conveyance to and from the Middle Island will be as follows—namely, 11.M.5. " Fly " will, about the end of the present week, convey you to Otago, touching on her route at Akaroa to enable you to see the Natives there, and prepare them for entering upon the negotiations on your return. At Otago you will be left until the return of H.M.S. " Fly " from visiting the Auckland Isles, when you will be reconveyed in her, together with the New Zealand Company's surveyor, and such Native chiefs as you may wish to take back to Akaroa, where the Lieutenant-Governor is given to understand the majority of the Natives interested reside. On your second visit to Akaroa H.M.S. "Fly" will, by the kindness of her commander, bo detained for any reasonable time, but should you find that it would require a longer time than she can thus wait to complete the marking of the Native reserves the Lieutenant-Governor will, upon being informed to that effect, take other means for sending for you abotit the time you may consider your labours likely to be terminated. The Lieutenant-Governor is not aware whether any Natives are resident at places intervening between Akaroa and Otago, but if this is the case it will, of course, be necessary that they should be seen, and their claims satisfied with the others. On your arrival at Otago, one of the New Zealand Company's surveyors will, by Colonel Wakefield's directions, undertake the survey and marking out of the Native reserves you may consider it requisite to make, and, as this service may probably be completed in the vicinity of the Otago purchase before the return of H.M.S. "Fly" to remove you to Akaroa, the LieutenantGovernor confidently hopes you will be enabled upon your arrival at the latter place to complete all other arrangements in that district during the stay of the " Fly." Prior to your embarkation it will be requisite for you to see Colonel Wakefield, and request he will be good enough to allow you the use of any maps which the New Zealand Company may have relating to the districts to wdiich you are going, as the local Government have none. I am instructed to add, in conclusion, that the Lieutenant-Governor relies with the fullest confidence on your zeal and ability in the discharge of the very important and responsible duty to which you are appointed. I have, &c, H. T. Kemp, Esq. W. Gisborne.

Lieut.-Governor Eyre to Colonel Wakefield. Sir,— Wellington, 25th April, 1848. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this day's date expressing the views you entertain on behalf of the New Zealand Company with respect to the contemplated

1 One enclosure only herewith, Lieutenant-Governor to Colonel Wakefield.