. Letter to Dr. Sinclair 14 July 1847. I intended to have written him at length, but was engaged in paying first instalment to the Ngamotu natives for land on Saturday, the day the mail closed; also to have forwarded report of arrangements with the Ngamotu natives; only their not accepting the payment induced me to defer it till I knew their reasons. They have, however, surrendered their claim to a considerable block of land, of which a partial survey has been made; and reserves for themselves laid down for them in such situations as are least likely to interfere or clash with the resident settlers; having induced them to remove some distance from where the Europeans are located. I have been only obliged to include two sections chosen by Europeans in their reserves. On one of these, the property of the late Mr. Barrett, they have had a village, and cultivation previous to, and ever since the formation of the settlement. A part of this land, a Whaling Station, was rented from the natives by a merchant of this place, Mr. Brown; but in consequence of some difference between him and the natives, they warned him to leave there about 12 months past; and notwithstanding my endeavours to further a pursuit so advantageous to the settlement, I could not overcome the animosity of the natives. Mr. Brown is