ON "SEIGNORIAL RIGHT." conquered tribe which had wholly abandoned its territory, while, in the other, it was said to vest in the conquerors who had never resided in the country they had subdued. 36. 1 willingly admit that tie degree of occupation of Taranaki retained by the Waikatos has been much contested. It is barely recognized by sotve authorities, and denied by another (52). On the other band the weight of testimony is decidedly in favour of their possession and occupation. Chief Protector Clarke and Conmissioner Spain both admit it (53): and the aspect of the question is clearly shown by Chief Commissioner McLean in his speeches to the Waikato Chiefs at the Ngaruawahia meeting this year, as well as in his speeches at the Kohimarama Conference, and in bis evidence before the House of Representatives: — " You also [Waikato] sold it to us in all its boundaries ; therefore, I say, that land has been fully ceded and given into onr hands in open daylight Waikato has taken up arms to hold that which their own Chiefs gave to the Europeans; spreading it forth for their acceptance in the light of day and under the shining sun of heaven Had it been territory not previously touched or broken into, it would have been different; but this was not the case The land has been consumed; it cannot return to its original state, any more than the ashes of a dead fire can be rekindled. This statement is not a new one; it vvas made by me [here] at Waikato, and the old Chief who has just died [Potatau] fully admitted iis truth. Referring to it he said, 'It is correct.' Now, in accordance with your customs, this land was completely forfeited and gone. Of the men who once possessed it, some had been brought as slaves to Waikato ; some had gone to Kapiti. It was a complete abandonment of a conquered territory (54) * * The Waikato title to Taranaki was universally admitted by the Natives ; at the time of the conquest many acts of ownership over the soil had been exercised by them. The land was divided among the conquering Chiefs, the usual custom of putting up flags and posts to mark the boundaries of the portions claimed by each Chief had been gone through. Any occupation of the land by the Ngatiawa at that period was entirely out of the question, but those Natives .who were released from slavery from time to time wer.-- permitted by Waikato to occupy ; but those who had fled to the South were not allowed to return, and they were distinctly warned that if a return were attempted it would be the cause for fresh nar against Ngatiawa. The Waikato right was thus established as a right of conquest, and was fully admitted by ihe Ngatiawa themselves : who, on each occasion when they sold a portion of land at Taranaki, sent a part of the payment to Waikato as an acknowledgment of conquest or of the riiht of mana posssessed by the Waikato Chiefs as their conquerors. In this view of the question it is quite evident that the Ngatiawa tide had been superseded by the right of the conquerors (55)." 37. But the most conclusive evidence is furnished by the Waikato Chiefs themselves, so long ago as 1844. When Mr. Protector Forsaith was sent down to Taranaki by Governor Fitzroy, he had interviews on his way with the Waikato and Ngatimaniapoto Chiefs, who expressly asserted their title, and desired him to warn the Ngatiawas of it. " You are now going lo Taranaki; listen to our parting words. Thailand is ours. We claim it by right of conquest, and some part of it by possession. We hold the late Governor's permission to locate any of the lands at Taranaki provided we do not go south of Urenui. Go and tell the Ngatiawas that the Waikato Chiefs remind them that the land is theirs, and advise them to settle their dispute with the Europeans, or the Waikatos will settle it for them (56)." 88. Another important proof of the validity of the Waikato title is afforded by the fact that when Wiremu Kmgi finally decided to return to Waitara in 1848, he did so by t c express permission of Te Whero Whero; thus recognizing the right of the latter to the district as conqueror, and illustrating a practice not infrequent among the New Zealandors as a means of reconciling feuds and securing quiet occupation of land about which the Tribes concerned might have been at war (57). 39 And I beg to add to this the further testimony, given to myself by the Waikato Chiefs Tamati Ngapora (half brother to Potatau) and Te Katipa, who absolutely maintain to this day the riyht of Waikato to sell Taranaki to Governor Hobson: and the evidence of the llcv. Mr. Buddie and Rev. Mr. Whitely, Missionaries who have resided at Taranaki and have been 20 years in the colony, which has just reached me (57a). ii. Award of Commissioner Spain. 40. I need not trouble Your Grace with any account of the troubles which accompanied, as might have been foreseen, the return of the absentees and manumitted captives of the Ngatiawa. From 1841 to 1841 there occurred a series of disputes which kept both race s in a state of chronic irritation and excitement. At last, in May, 1844, Mr. Spain, Her .Majesty's Commissioner for determining titles to land, held his Court at Taranaki for the investigation oi the case. 41. 'Ihe circumstances of that officer's Award must be too familiar to Your Grace to require any detailed reference to them. Mr. Spain disallowed altogether the claims of ihe Ngatiawa captives and absentees, and gave judgment for the issue of a grant to the New Zealand Company for 60,000 acres, including the whole of Waitara. This award was reversed by Governor Fitzßoy, as will be presently stated; but after careful reconsideration Mr Spain remained of the same opinion, and formally reiterated the judgment he had given on the spot. In doing so he laid particular stress on the fact that no claim had been asserted on behalf of the absentees, though he afforded every opportunity to the Protector of Aborigines who specially represented the Native interests during the investigation to adduGe such evidence, as was admitted by that officer in his address to the Natives : and he called attention to the further important circumstance, that if the Protector had entertained the idea of the Ngatiawa captives having any just or equitable claim to the land, he ought to have brought forward such

E—No. 1

governor's despatch. 4th Dec, 1860.

(52) Clarke Jan.; Gov. Fitzltoy,{ln Parl. Pap, 1845.) Hadfield, App. B. 14 (53) Clarke ; Spain's Report; Parl. Pap. April 1846

(54) McLean, Speeclti.; App. C. 1. a.

(55~)McLean,Euitlenc' App. C. 3.

(56) Forsaith, Report, App. B. 13.

(57) McLean, Speech. App. C. I.

(57a) Buddie, Wkili ly, App. E, 8.