I.—3a

38

19. Do you say that you have a strong personal affection for the owners of this block? —Yes, I have, and I have shown it in fifty different ways. 20. And do you say that you took £87 out of the purchase-money for this block out of one person's interest in this block as your own share ?—I did, because you agreed to it. 21. Did you take £87 out of each owner's share? —I did, as you agreed to it, and I was to pay all expenses out of it. 22. Do you think that is showing your love for the owners —by taking so much out of each of their shares ?—Yes, because I have shown myself all love in other ways. I got them a great deal more money than they expected to get for the land. 23. You have just already stated that the Natives made you a present of 800 acres : is it showing your love by further taking from them this £87 each ? —Yes ; they got a great deal more money than they expected. 24. If, after this, you should visit these friends of yours in their district, would they jump with joy on seeing you, and exclaim, " This is our friend who took from each of us £87"? —I believe that every man that gave me the grant would. 25. Hon. Mr. Mitchelson : That is not an answer to the question. The question is this : Whom you took the £87 from. Hon. Mr. Carroll: That is the only answer he can give ;he cannot give a definite answer. Witness : My answer to the question, Mr. Mitchelson, is that I can do more with the Natives than you can. 26. Herewini te Tolw (to witness).] How many of the land-purchase officers the Government appointed knew that you made the charges that you have made—that is, £87 out of £200?— Ido not know. What land purchases I saw in the district I thought very little of. 27. Do you not know that it is only now that such an amount has been charged, and by you ? — I was not acting for the Government. I was acting for the Natives, and they agreed to it. 28. I must speak now with regard to Eaiha. You asked me to go and bring her ? —I do not recollect asking you, and I think that was impossible, because she was where you were at that time, at Mr. .Hardiman's; you were both together. 29. Did you not know that Eaiha left Wangape ?—I knew she left Wangape ; and she was at Hardiman's on that day. 30. Do you not recollect your asking me to tell Eaiha to come and sign a deed for the amount of £60 ?—I do not recollect. 31. Do you not recollect your telling me that if I would bring Eaiha you would give me £1 ? — Yes; I wanted to get away to Auckland in a hurry. That was at Eawene. 32. I think it was after you told me to bring Eaiha that I saw you at Hardiman's? —Yes. 33. Do you not think that it was on that day that the disputes commenced to arise between us ?—I had no dispute with you. 34. Was it not on that day that I told you I knew that Eaiha was receiving a greater amount for her share than we received ?—Yes. 35. Do you not remember that it was on that day that I saw the letter from the Government stating what amount Eaiha was to receive ? —I have already stated in my evidence that she received £108, and that I had nothing to do with it—that her name was not on my list. 36. Do you not know that it was because Eaiha knew how much money she was to receive that you did not charge her any commission on it ?—No ; I had nothing to do with Eaiha, only what I have stated in my evidence. 37. I now wish to ask you a question about the signing of the agreement. How many days was it before we signed the deed of purchase that we signed the agreement ?—One day. 38. Do you recollect what your witness stated ? Did he say it was only one day prior to signing the deed?—l think he said two. lam not sure. I think he said two. 39. Did you raise any objection to what your witness gave in evidence ? —No; I thought nothing of it. 40. Hon. Mr. Bichardson.] Did you get Ngawaka's signature at his own house at Wangape ? —Yes; in his own house. 41. Did you obtain his signature to the agreement and to the deed at that time?— Yes. 42. And in Mr. Millar's presence?— Yes. Mr. Millar, Mr. Clark, the schoolmaster at Wangape, Mr. Cochrane, and myself were together in the house. Ngawaka was ill in bed ; he was delicate. He put on his trousers and came to the box and signed the agreement, and he signed the deed afterwards. It was all done at the one time. I would not like to swear that Mr. Clark was in the house at the time the agreement was signed, but Mr. Millar and the schoolmaster were there. I believe they were all there. That was what they went there for. 43. Why did you cause the English portion of the agreement to be translated by the licensed interpreter into Maori instead of giving the Natives the deed in Maori, as they could read it for themselves ?—Before you came in I gave in my evidence that I was particular about translating the English version into Maori by the interpreter, and that I did not care whether they read the other or not. 44. Do you understand Maori yourself ?—I do not read and write Maori, and Ido not thoroughly understand Maori, but I can make the Maori understand me, and I understand them fairly well. I can do more with the Maori than any Maori scholar can. I will go further and say that I have been asked by the Government to act where the Government officials have failed. Te M'oanui came with me from the Thames to Auckland, and I got a road made through their land. 45. That has nothing to do with this case. What I wanted to know is this : As you understand Maori sufficiently, did the interpreter read that agreement to the Natives or translate that agreement to the Natives word for word as it is there ?—The English portion, I believe he did. I have no reason to doubt it that he read it over.