H.—26b

20

14. CHATHAM ISLANDS. Sib,— Magistrate's Office, Waitangi, Chatham Islands, 24th April, 1901. In continuation of my letter to you of the 13th instant, I find that there is very little to add. On the sth February I sent a full report upon the health of the Maori residents of this island to the chief health officer, but will repeat it to you if you wish. Perhaps a few words descriptive of the buildings may be of use to you. There are thirty-one what may be called superior buildings, of European style, and about thirty-three of an inferior kind, constructed of bush timber and fern-tree. The Natives possess three excellent woolsheds and three meetinghouses. With regard to their lands, quite an impetus has been given to improving the same by fencing, although the titles are not ascertained satisfactorily yet. Their sheep, too, are receivingmore attention in the way of dipping, but there is plenty of room for improvement. There seems to be a growing desire to "adopt " The Maori Lands Administration Act, 1900," but I do not think that they will thoroughly understand it till a few more Native copies of the Act and rules are distributed and read by them. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary, Department of Justice, E- Stone Floeance. Wellington.

Sib,— Magistrate's Office, Waitangi, Chatham Islands, 13th April, 1901. Be Maori and Moriori census for 1901: I have the honour to forwardto you under separate registered cover the undermentioned books and papers : (1) Book containing particulars of Maori and Moriori census separately arranged; (2) enumerators' summary of above in two pages. . ' I have retained the duplicate forms upon which I have drafted the information comprised in the above-mentioned enclosures. Mr. Shand was employed by me for three days at 15s. per diem. His knowledge was indispensable to the correct compilation of the return. The rest of the work was done entirely by myself, and my receipted account has gone forward this mail with the postoffice accounts. There is a rough copy of the Maori census of 1896 in the office, but I cannot say whether it is the one supplied to your department or not. It was not shown to me till after I had compiled my return, and, at any rate, I do not see how I can make from it a comparative statement. any rate, I will see what can be done before the departure of the next mail by comparing the statistics in the Year-book of 1900 with the results of my inquiries. From a hasty glance I have got out the following : —

From these figures it would appear that there is a decrease of thirty-three persons of the Maori race, consisting of nineteen males and fourteen females ; also, there is a decrease of seven Moriori persons, consisting of four males and three females. If the total Maori and Moriori population in 1901 be added—i.e., 212 persons—there is this year, as against 199 persons in 1896, an increase here of thirteen persons. Half-caste Maori and Moriori peoples were not shown in the 1896 census ; but, taking the Maori census, there appears to have been an increase of seven persons—the same number of males in each census year, but seven more females in 1901 than in 1896. There is an increase of eleven Morioris in 1901. The Under Secretary, Department of Justice, I have, &c, Wellington. E- Stone Flokance.

Maoris. I Half-castes. Morioris. Half-easte Moriori and Maori. Year. Persons, i Males. P. males. ! Persons. Males. Female?. Ptivons.; Males.; Females. Persons. Males. Females. , J I - 1896 1901 179 146 1 94 75 85 71 27 34 I 15 15 12 19 20 13 11 7 9 6 18 8 ib