E—No. 7

J. R. Clendon, Esq.

No. 8. BAY OF ISLANDS. BJSPORT FBOM H. T. KEMP, ESQ., DISTRICT LAND PURCHASE COMMISSIONER. District Commissioner's Office, Bay of Islands, 28th September. 1861. Sir,— By direction of His Excellency the Governor, I have the honor to furnish for Sir George Grey's information, a report on the present state of the Natives in this district, taking the different points in the order in which they stand in your communication. I avail myself, also, of the last clause of your letter to subjoin a few notes on Native matters, trusting that 1 shall not be considered presumptuous in having done so on this occasion. I beg leave then to notice first, the present state of the Natives in this district. Referring to my reports of the 15th May and 6th June inst, I have the pleasure to stale, that the Natives still continue peaceably disposed ; and, as active operations have been for some time suspended in the South, nothing has occurred to renew excitement, or to be the cause of altering the friendly tone of their behaviour towards the Government ; they are, moreover, now so fully employed in preparing land for their cultivations, that they have but little time left for entering into or discussing, at any length, the political questions of the day. Their disposition, also, and conduct towards the Europeans is, generally speaking, respectful, and otherwise peaceful and unintrnsive. "As to how the Natives here have been affected by the Taranaki disturbances, and the Waikato movement, with the various questions of the past year," I beg leave to say that, beyond the sympathy ■which might naturally be supposed to exist in common among them as a race, they were, I tnink, prepared, to co-operate with the Government in putting down any hostile aggression on the part of the Waikatos, had they been called upon to do so ; but this proposal was, generally speaking, accompanied whh the expression of an earnest desire that peaceful means should first of all be tried to bring about a reconciliation. The fact, also, that a considerable body of Waikatos, formerly taken as slaves, but now virtually emancipated, continue to reside among them, that they have intermarried, and are otherwise mixed up with the Ngapuhi, but whose sympathies, nevertheless, extend towards their own tribes and nearest relatives, and that to allow them to remain, while engaged in an expedition so far from home, would not only be unwise, hut unsafe ; these, and other considerations, led them to desira a peaceful termination of the Waikato difficulty. In reference to the Taranaki differences, I have reason to believe that it is looked upon here as purely a question of title to land, i. c., "He whenua te take," and on this point there has been a silence, which, I think, has been well meant on their part. As affecting, however, the general question of title, it has given a greater importance to it in the eyes of the Natives than it originally had, as one which should be settled upon some more clear and definite basis. A scheme to give the Natives Crown Titles was to have been tried under the Bay of Islands Settlement Act, which received the Royal assent, but which has been for the present unavoidably postponed. It remains, lastly, to be observed, that much really depends on the final settlement of the Native questions now ir. agitation, as to how long we may rely on the quiet and subdued tone of the Native trib:.° in the unprotected districts; and, in allusion to this, it becomes no less a duty than a privilege to acknowledge the good offices of the settlers generally in affording to the Natives here that explanation and friendly assurance which, under the circumstances, was needful to the preservation of peace and good order. I have, &c,

H. T. Kemp, Esq.

The Chief Commissioner, H. T. KEMr, Auckland. District Commissioner.

20

REPORTS ON THE STATE OF THE NATIVES

CHIEFS. HAPUS. RESIDEKCB. Kingi Wiremu Pareha Te Pakira Tamati Hui Ngariri - Te Kohai Ngapuhi - Parahiku Whare Ngere - Kingi Hori Kira Riwhi Hongi - Te Waka Kahiwai - Honi Taotao - Kame Horo - Hori Korau Parao - Paora Te Oka - Hari Hongi Heremaia Te Ara - Hopihona Naihi Ngati Rehia M (( it Te Rawaru Ngai Tupanga (c H Te Ti, Mangonui Takou Waiana Matauri Te Ngaere H H tt Whangaroa tt Ngati Kawau Te Tahawai Ngati Uru Kaio, Wangaroa tt m m