E—No. 7

Circular to Native Officers.

EEPOKTS ON THE STATE OF THE NATIVES AT THE TIME OF SIR GEORGE GREY'S ARRIVAL. No. 1. CIRCULAR FROM THE NATIVE SECRETARY, CALLING FOB INFORMATION ON THE STATE OF THE NATIVES. Sir,— His Excellency the Governor considers it very important that Sir George Grey, who ' is shortly expected here to assume the Government of New Zealand, should as soon as possible after his arrival be put in possession of the fullest procurable information with reference to the present state of the aboriginal inhabitants of these islands. I am directed to request that you will, with as little delay as possible, furnish a general report on the present state of the Natives in your own district, and in others with which you may be acquainted; giving full information as to their sentiments towards the Government; their disposition and conduct towards Europeans generally; how they have been affected by the recent disturbances at Taranaki; the Waikato movement, and the various questions which have occupied and agitated the Native mind during the past few years; with such other information as may appear to you likely to prove useful as data upon which a just opinion may be formed as to the present position of the Native question in this country. You will be good enough to specify the tribes and hapus of the district on which you report, the approximate boundaries of their territories, and the names (Christian as well as Native) of the principal men of those tribes and hapus. I have, &c, T. H. Smith. No. 2. AUCKLAND. GENERAL REPORT FROM JOHN ROGAN, ESQ., DISTRICT LAND PURCHASE COMMISSIONER. Auckland, 28th September, 1861. Sir,— I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your circular letter of the 7th ultimo, stating that His Excellency the Governor considered it important that Sir George Grey should, as soon as possible after his arrival here, be put in possession of the fullest information with reference to the present state of the aboriginal inhabitants of these Islands; and requesting me to furnish a general report on the present state of the Natives in my district and in others with which I am acquainted. I beg to forward the following remarks which have occured to me since the receipt of your letter, and I propose to date my observations from the year 1854, the period at which I obtained employment from the Government. In the year above mentioned, I was employed by the Chief Land Purchase Commissioner in negociating the purchase of land at and near Mokau; and while at Awakino I received several communications from Mr. Maclean, to the effect that the majority of the Taranaki Absentees had decided upon ceding their lands to the Government. Accordingly, on my return to New Plymouth, I called at the various settlements along the coast and found nearly all the Natives averse to the proposed arrangement. It was on this occasion I heard for the first time of the great meeting held at Manawapo, in the house called Taiporohenui; where the land league is said to have first assumed a political shape, and where it was laid down as a principle, that whoever offered land for sale to the Government, even although it were his own property, should suffer death. The first permanent duty which was assigned to me at Taranaki was the individualizing allotments at the Hua purchase (see extract from report enclosed herewith): and after a length of time Rawiri came in with the offer of land which caused his death and the subsequent feuds amongst the Natives, and probably the present unhappy state of the Taranaki settlement. As I shall have occasion to remark on the present state of the Natives in New Plymouth, in the latter part of this letter, I propose to follow the course of my duty, which was to proceed overland from New Plymouth to Auckland. I remained a short time at Mokau, where the Natives then were all friendly disposed towards the Europeans and the Government. They belong to the Ngatimaniapoto tribe, and are divided into three principal hapus; and were about equally divided as to the sale of land to the Government. The principal chief of these people resides in the interior at Papatia, near Motukaramu; he is the son of Taonui, and was formerly called Te Kuri, now he is known as Ngaturi. The chiefs on the sea coast at Tongaporutu, are Tikaokao and his brother Te Kaharoa;

John Rogctn, Esq.