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an acre—that is, before signing?— Yes, I did. I read out from the deed that you were to get £1,900 odd. That was the consideration to be paid for the block. 186. Hon. Mr. Carroll.} Did you tell them it was 7s. 6d. an acre?—l told them that the price was 7s. 6d. an acre. They all seemed to understand it thoroughly. I became a little careless towards the end. 187. Hereioini te Toko.] Did you say that it was on account of the smallness of the room that we were taken in to sign singly ?—Yes; I have already stated that Mr. Millar objected to the place being crowded; and, because a great many documents had to be signed, he did not wish his work to be interfered with. 188. Why were we taken in singly ? Why could not two have been called in at the one time? —That matter did not rest with me. I would have infinitely preferred your all coming in at once, so that one reading over of the document would have sufficed. 189. Wi Bikihana.] Have you ever known me make trouble before with regard to Government transactions?—l have not known you make trouble, but I have heard of your doing so. I know you to be a clever young man. I have already said that Millar handed you your cheques through the delivery window, the same as he did in all other cases. 190. Do you say positively that Millar handed the money into my hand ?—Yes. 191. Do you not know that he laid the money down on the table, and that we could look through the window and see him ?—We could have seen him lay it on the table had he done so, but he actually put it into your hands. 192. Do you believe that I gave the money to Lundou voluntarily?— Yes; if you were an honourable man you would say it was because you had signed an agreement to that effect previously—that you had signed an agreement appointing Mr. Lundon your agent, aud you agreed verbally to hand him the money. 193. Do you know that Mr. Lundon took the money out of my hand to another place and then gave it back to me : you know that Mr. Lundon took the cheques away to the hotel and then gave them back to me ?—I know that Mr. Lundon took the money to the hotel for the purpose of handing back your portion to you, after keeping back his own. 194. Did you explain the documents to me when I signed ?—I fully explained to you the deeds of sale. With regard to the receipts for the money, I assured the postmaster that you were the right person to get the money. I only explained one document to you, and the second document you signed I explained to you was simply the duplicate. 195. Do you remember now what you explained to me on that occasion? —I had no further explanation to give you other than what was contained in the deeds themselves. 196. Do you remember what you explained about the deed ? —What I remember telling you with regard to the deed was : appointing the consideration-money, and telling you you were handing over this land to the Queen. 197. Did you tell us in your explanation that we were to get £1,900? —-Yes, £1,900 odd. 198. Was there any mention in the deed of 7s. 6d. an acre?—No; a lump sum was mentioned in the deed, and you were told in addition that it represented 7s. 6d. an acre. Moreover, you are a clever man, and you could surely have ascertained the acreage rate from your knowledge of figures, knowing what the total consideration-money was. 199. Now, seeing that you are related to us, did you not think it was very foolish of us to sell our land—that is, our giving Mr. Lundon so much money?—l believe you were greatly rejoiced at getting this price for the land, because you had previously agreed to sell it for half-a-crown an acre, and when you got 4s. 6d. an acre you closed with the offer very quickly. [Agreement produced to Eikihana to look over.] 200. Did I sign that agreement before Herewini te Toko?—No; you signed it long afterwards. The deed was signed so that the names followed in the same order as they appeared in the agreement. [* What I wished to convey in this answer was that the names were signed to the agreement in the same order that they were intended to appear on the deed.] 201. Hon. Mr. Bichardson.] You have stated that the agreement was signed in the same order as the deed. This is a most important point ?—The names appear on the agreement in the same order as they appear in the deed. 202. Is that to be the answer?— Yes, that is the answer. 203. Will you repeat the answer ?—My answer to the question is this : that the names appearing on the authority for Mr. Lundon to act as agent for the Natives are in the same rotation as they appear on the transfer. 204. Hon. Mr. Carroll.] The order in which the names appear in the agreement correspond with the order in which the names appear in the first column of the deed?— That is what I mean, as near as can be; there may possibly be one or two variations, but as near as possible they are in the same order. 205. The first column contains the names of the owners ?—Yes. 206. The second column contains the signatures ?—Yes. 207. Did you mean that the order in which the names appear on the agreement correspond with the order in which the names appear in the first column of the deed ? —I would not like to say that. The rotation of the names that were supposed to have been on the deed appeared on the list that Mr. Lundon gave me at the time the agreement was drawn. 208. Did you sign that deed before the signatures were obtained to it ?—Oh no, I did not. 209. You got the order of the names from Mr. Lundon instead of from the deed ? —Yes, that is so. They were given to me by Mr. Lundon as the order in which they appear in the original draft.

* Note.—The note in italics was inserted by Mr. Cochrane when signing evidence.

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