G.—s

33

The result of Mr. Mantell's labours was that reserves of an average of about 10 acres a man were marked off by Mr. Mantefl. His reason for making them so small was given in a letter to the Governor-in-Chief dated the 13th March, 1851 : " In carrying out the spirit of my instructions on the block purchased by Mr. Kemp I allotted on an average of 10 acres to each individual, in the belief that the ownership of such an amount of land, though ample for their support, would not enable the Natives in the capacity of large landed proprietors to continue to live in their old barbarism on the rents of an uselessly extensive domain." The Natives complained that these reserves were insufficient. Mr. Mantell has since admitted that they were far too small, and explains that he made them small, and confined the Natives as much as possible, to please the Government. But whatever may have been the spirit of the instructions, as he terms it, the written instructions were that a liberal provision was to be made both for their present and future wants; while Mr. Kemp, who procured the signatures to the deed, says in reference to that part of the deed which refers to the settingapart of further reserves by the Government, " I think that the impression on my mind and on the minds of the Natives, made at the time, was that the provision hereafter to be made was one which was to be carried out in a liberal spirit, and in such proportions as to meet the wants and provide for the general future welfare of the Natives resident at the different settlements at the time the purchase was made." As time went on and European closer settlement followed, complaints became louder and more insistent. Matiaha Tiramorehu, on the 22nd October, 1849, wrote to Lieutenant-Governor Eyre complaining of his reserve being too small : " You are aware, when Mantell first commenced his work in this place, his first mistake was at Kaiapoi—viz., he would not listen to what the owners of the land wished to say to him; they strenuously urged that the part that should be reserved for the Maoris ought to be large, but Mantell paid no attention to their wishes. It was thus he did wrong in the commencement of his work, and continued to do so in all his arrangements in regard to the portions which were reserved for the Maoris." By " doing wrong " the writer evidently means committing an error of judgment. " This," he also says, "is the commencement of our speaking or complaining to you, Governor Eyre; and although you should return to England, we shall never cease speaking to the white people who may hereafter come here." The words of this old Native have turned out to be literally true, for we are to-day, over seventy years after, inquiring into a petition in which the Natives continue to allege that they were not then justly treated. It will be remembered that the position as it stood in 1848 to 1850 was that the arrangement had virtually been made between the Natives and the New Zealand Company's agent; that the actual residences and cultivations of the Natives had been expressly reserved; and that the question of further reserves was, with the consent of the Natives, left to the Governor to decide according to his discretion, but in the faith that the Crown, which had the command of the issue of any titles, would see justice done between the parties, and especially towards the Natives. During 1849 steps were taken with regard to the founding of a settlement at Port Cooper, afterwards known as the Canterbury Settlement. In April, 1850, the first pioneers arrived, and in December of that year the first body of the Canterbury settlers arrived. It then became necessary to issue titles, and in due course of time the Crown took the place of the New Zealand Company and treated the deed as its own, assuming in doing so that Mr. Mantell's mission had already settled the whole question of Native reserves. Complaints, however, continued to be made to the Government by the Maoris, while applications were also sent in to the Native Land Court, both with regard to the title to the reserves as well as claiming as their own land included in Kemp's deed as if it were not a valid deed. A sitting- of the Native Land Court to deal with these applications was commenced at Christchurch on the 20th April, 1868. At this sitting it soon ' became evident that the Crown's title under the deed of purchase was being

; 1858, C-3, 7 p. 12. f

1 1888,1.-8, p. 40. I I

) , 1 MaoKay, ; p. 227.

1 MaoKay, p. 228.

Kemp's letter, 1 MaoKay, p. 209.

N.L. Court, S. 15., M.8. 1. p. 1.

5—G. 5.