C—No. 3

19

Auckland, 25th April, 1856. Sir,— I have to request that you will proceed by the " Zingari" on Monday next to Port Cooper, and place yourself in communication with the Crown Commissioner at that place. Mr. Brittan, in reference to the carrying out of an award made with the Natives of Kaipoi and Akaroa by which, on the payment of a certain consideration, they were to relinquish certain lands which it appears they still, continue to occupy. The extent and nature of Mr. Mantell's award will be furnished to you by Mr. Brittan who, together with Mr. Watson, the Kesident Magistrate, knows the particulars of the case, and the former gentleman has kindly offered to furnish all the information he possesses respecting the claim. It will be necessary for you to use the utmost firmness with the Natives in carrying out this award, which they should understand is final ; at the same time it will be requisite to use every caution to prevent them from feeling that any advantage is taken of the weakness of their position as compared with the Europeans at that place, and that there is no desire on the part of the Government to act otherwise than with the strictest justice towards them. They should therefore be informed, that in the reserves set apart for their use by Mr. Mantell, they will not be disturbed; that the amount of that officer's award will be paid to them; but that you are instructed to cause them to abandon the lands ceded to the Crown, as such lands are neither required for their use or subsistence, nor is it reasonably just or equitable that they should persist in retaining possession of them. I herewith enclose several letters from the Natives on this subject. (Signed) Donald McLean, Chief Commissioner. J. G. Johnson, Esq., District Commissioner. Lyttelton, 11th May, 1856. Sir, — I have the honor to enclose a letter which has been addressed to you by the Natives of Kaiapoi on the North side of the Canterbury block. The tribes who inhabit that place, Port Levi, and Banks' Peninsula, appear to be the same ; their number is estimated at three to four hundred, and they inform me that if I am not prepared to adjust the grievance they complain of, that they will use all their influence to prevent a settlement of the question on Banks' Peninsula. I have been fortunate enough to obtain a copy of the Blue Book, containing , the reports of Commissioners Kemp and Mantell, and I gather from that source that the Natives of Kaiapoi urged their claims before Mr. Mantell, who declined interfering, as it was outside the limits of Mr. Kemp's purchase of the Canterbury Province, to which Mr. Mantell's commission was confined ; but at the same time, he expressed his opinion that the Ngatitoa had no right to sell the land so far South as Kaiapoi. As far as I can learn, the claim of Ngaitahu to compensation for their land sold by Ngatitoa to the North of Kaiapoi is a just one, and, if further investigation should confirm this opinion, I would recommend that I be authorized to extinguish this claim by a payment of a sum not exceeding one hundred and fifty pounds. When justice has been done to the Kaiapoi Natives, I shall then be in a position to make use of their influence in carrying out Mr. Mantell's award at Akaroa ; which influence will be necessary if the arrangements at Akaroa should be attended with any difficulty. Kaiapoi is the boundary on the Northern side between the Canterbury and Nelson Provinces ; and the land over which the Kaiapoi Natives appear to luve a claim is within the Nelson Province, in the block from the Wairau to Kaiapoi, the particulars of which, and by whom purchased, I am not aware. If the liquidation of this claim should be sanctioned by the Government, it will be seen that it is for land in the Nelson Province, the owners of which reside in the adjoining portions of the Canterbury Block I have, &c, (Signed) John Grant Johnson, Commissioner N. L. P. Donald McLean, Esq., Chief Land Commissioner, Auckland. Land Commissioner's Office, Auckland, May 27, 1856. Sir,— I have the honor to report to you, for the information of His Excellency the Governor, that the result of the investigations of Mr. Johnson, the Officer instructed to enquire into unsettled claims of the Natives at Canterbury, is to the effect that a payment of one hundred and fifty pounds (£150) to the Kaiapoi Natives, in addition to one hundred and fifty pounds (£150) already authorized for land at Banks' Peninsula, will enable him to settle the outstanding claims in that Province ; and from the merits and nature of the Kaiapoi claim, which has always been a source of discontent with