A.—No. sa,

16

RELIGIOUS, CHARITABLE, AND

Hampden, are let for a period of twenty-one years, at a rental of £12 9s. Some of the other lands mentioned in the schedule have been let, but the leases have fallen through by default of the tenants. None of the other lands mentioned in the return are at present let. Section No. 100, Hampden, is appropriated as a site for a common schoolhouse, under Act, Session 8, No. 11, of the Provincial Council, and there is a building on it used as a common school. On section No. 107, Town of Clive, there is a school-building for the purpose of a common school. On section No. 75, Havelock, there is a school-building for a common school; and on section No. 70, Petane, there is a common school for boys and girls : the master lives on the ground, in a part of the house used as a schoolhouse. In the township of Clyde, "Wairoa, sections Nos. 467 to 473 inclusive, G37 to G43 inclusive, Gsl to 657 inclusive, and Sls to 821 inclusive, were reserved, at the time of the purchase from the Natives, as an endowment for a school for Natives and Europeans. There is a schoolhouse, partly on section 471 and partly on section 639. The rents are appropriated by the Educational Eeserves Act, Session 3, No. 1. The rents of the sections let, when received for the current financial year, will be added to the amount produced by the educational rate. There is a school at Waipukerau on land given by Mr. Henry Russell, and another at Waipawa on land given by Mr. Abbott. There is a reserve in Napier of land known as the public cemetery, containing 2 acres 2 roods 3 perches. By an Act of the Provincial Council, Session 12, No. 4, power is given to deal with this reserve for the purposes for which it was made. The town sections Nos. 164, 165, 166, 190, and 191, Clive, containing 1 acre 1 rood 18 perches, are set apart as a burial reserve; also rural section, Patency, unnumbered, containing 5 acres —a portion is used as a burial reserve, and is fenced in. Suburban section, Havelock, No. 49, is also set apart as a burial reserve. Suburban section, No. 54, Clyde, "Wairoa, containing 9 acres 32 perches, is also set apart for a burial reserve. The town section in Napier, known as the hospital reserve, containing 1 acre 3 roods, is occupied as a hospital. There is a reserve at Papakura, which an Act of the Provincial Council, Session 11, No. 4, authorizes the Superintendent, by the advice of the Executive Council, to demise and lease to Trustees there named, for a term, with certain powers, and authorizing the Trustees to apply the rents arising therefrom towards the purpose of any botanical garden or park within the Province. This reserve contains 39 acres 2 roods, being section No. 19 and a portion of No. 20, Meanee South. The land comprised in the last-mentioned Act of the Provincial Council was exempted from the operation of " The Hawke's Bay Land Regulation Act, 1866," by " The Hawke's Bay Land Regulation Extension Act Amendment Act, 1868," of the General Assembly. The reserve of 14 acres next the burial reserve, granted by grant No. 960, under " The Public Reserves Act, 1854," to the Superintendent of the Province of Hawke's Bay and his successors, for the purpose of public utility, is at present unoccupied. Captain Carter re-examined—("Wednesday, 14th April, 1869), —states : I produce the Eecord copy of Grant No. 598 under the land regulations of the Province of "Wellington. Tuesday, 13th April, 1869. Present: —Mr. Hart. Cemetery — Napier. Mr. Tiffen examined: My name is Henry Stokes Tiffen. I reside at Napier, and am a sheep farmer. I know the land set apart as a cemetery in the town of Napier. It is divided into five portions ; one portion appropriated to the Roman Catholics, one to members of the United Church of England and Ireland, one to Wesleyan Methodists, and one to the Presbyterians: the remaining portion, which had been used in common before the division, is left to be used in common. The ground is entirely fenced in, and the portion appropriated to the Roman Catholics is separately fenced. The outer fence does not follow the actual boundary of the reserve. The change in the form of the ground was made by arrangement with the Superintendent, for convenience of access and for convenience of fencing. A fee of 10s. is charged for each burial. The fees produced were employed in payment of a sexton until they became insufficient for the purpose. The small excess in the charge over the expense of digging each grave, is at present applied towards the payment of a small debt owing to the Trustees. "With the reserve next the cemetery, originally marked as Botanical Reserve, nothing has been done beyond a few huts built by the military, and the Provincial powder magazine and a military well. The reserves at Papakura, entitled Public Park and Botanical Garden, mentioned in Act, Session 11, No. 4, was let to a good tenant, at a rent proportioned to its value, until the lands comprised therein were covered with sand by a flood, and rendered valueless for the purposes of occupation. In the same manner the land referred to in the Hawke's Bay Agricultural Society Act, Session 10, No. 3, of the Provincial Council, was let, until by similar means it was rendered valueless for occupation. It was in May, 1867, the 26th and 27th. No rent was ever received. The leases were never completed. The piece of land used as a school at Meanee, containing half an acre, was bought of me with the amount of my subscription to the school. A site for a school and church in one building, at Kaikoura, was given by Mr. Edward "Watts. Wednesday, 14th Apkil, 1869. Present:—Mr. Hart. 2 roods, J. Curling, fyc, Napier — School. Mr. Catchpool, being duly sworn, states :My name is Edward Catchpool. I reside at Napier, and am a retired Officer of Customs. lam one of the Trustees named in the grant referred to, comprising sections numbered 136 and 137 on the plan of the Town of Napier : the Trustees named therein are still the Trustees of the land. Subsequent to the date of grant there was a schoolroom erected on the land, which was burnt down in the fire which consumed Ferrers' Hotel and other buildings in the neighbourhood. On the 4th day of November, 1863, a meeting was held of the subscribers to the Napier school, pursuant to advertisement in the Hawke's Bay Herald, at which His Honor the Superintendent presided, and at which it was proposed, seconded, and carried unanimously, " That it