A.—No. 17.

(No. 77.) Civil Commissioner's Office, Sib,— Auckland, 27th July, 18G9. With reference to the instructions contained in the Hon. Mr. Eichmond's letter of the 15th August, 1867, respecting the leasing to the Crown of Native lands in the District of Hauraki for goldmining purposes, I have now the honor to report my proceedings in that behalf. In order to arrive at a proper understanding of the question, it may, perhaps, not be considered out of place briefly to refer to the previous action which had been taken about other auriferous lands in that district, and which, to a certain extent, has been looked on by the Natives as a precedent for guiding their subsequent negotiations. There are also other circumstances which have more or less influenced these proceedings, which it may also bo as well to allude to for the same reason. The principal Native landowners in the Thames District are the tribes Ngatipaoa, Ngatiwhanaunga, Ngatimaru, and Ngatitamatera. The claims of these people extend over the country on the east and west shores of the Hauraki Gulf, and as far south as Katikati on the East Coast, and to To Aroha Mountain and "Waitoa in the valley of the Thames. Their lands are very much intermixed, and there is hardly a tribal boundary which has not been the subject of dispute for some generations past. In addition to the tribes above mentioned, there are the Ngatiporou, who own land at Harataunga (Kennedy Bay) and Mataora, ceded to them by the Ngatitamatera ; the Tawera, who hold a block at Manaia, given to them by Ngatimaru for assistance in war; and the Ngatitai, who reside at Maraetai and the Wairoa. The latter (Ngatitai) have no auriferous lands which form the subject of negotiation with the Crown, and will not again be referred to in this report; but all the others are concerned in the gold-mining question. In the year 1851, Mr. Hargreaves discovered gold in the banks of Summer Hill Creek, near Bathurst, in Australia, and in consequence of the important results therefrom, attention was directed to prospecting for gold in New Zealand. In October, 1852, Mr. Charles Eing obtained auriferous quartz and some fine gold from the Kapanga Stream at Coromandel, and thereupon applied for a reward of £500, which had been offered by a committee. A number of persons were attracted to that district, and on the 30th November, 1852, Colonel "Wynyard, then Lieutenant-Governor, found it necessary to enter into an agreement with the Native owners of the land, to permit the search for gold between Cape Colville and Kauaeranga. The terms of the agreement were as follows : —Payment for under 500 men, £000 ; from 500 to 1,000, £900; from 1,000 to 1,500, £1,200: from 1,500 to 2,000, £1,500. In addition to the above, a sum of 2s. was to be paid for every license issued to miners. There were other arrangements, which will be found in the copy of the agreement annexed. About three thousand miners commenced operations, but, owing to various causes, the field was shortly nearly abandoned. The discovery of alluvial deposits by Mr. "William Lightband at Aorere (Collingwood), in 1857 ; by Mr. John Eochfort at the Buller Eiver, in the Province of Nelson, in 1859-60; and by Mr. Gabriel Eeid at Tuapeka, in the Province of Otago, in 1861, in consequence of which the Southern Island gold fields offered attractions to the mining population of Australia and this Colony, tended to prevent the further development of the auriferous wealth of the Province of Auckland. In November, 1861, the Coromandel Gold Field again became the scene of mining operations: and as the agreement made by Colonel AVynyard with the Natives had lapsed, owing to the desertion of the district, Mr. McLean, then Chief Land Purchase Commissioner, entered into an agreement on the 9th November, 1861, with them, to allow gold to be searched for in the district extending from the Waiau Eiver, near Coromandel, to Cape Colville. In 1862 about 300 miners were at Coromandel, and they reported more favourably as to the payable nature of the field than those who had previously visited it. In consequence of disputes with the Natives, the Chief Land Purchase Commissioner proceded to Coromandel to negotiate the purchase or lease of the district. Owing to the Native Land League, which was then in full vigour, this was a task of no ordinary difficulty; but he succeeded on the 23rd June, 1862, in completing an arrangement with Eiria Karepe and other claimants to the Takatea Block to allow mining for gold on their lands on payment of a rental of £500 per annum, and the farther consideration, that if more than 500 persons were employed on the ground, a sum of £1 was to be paid for every person in excess of that number. On the 23rd July, 1862, Pita Taukaka, Kitahi te Tauiwha, Patene Puhata, and their people, executed an agreement for the working of their lands for gold, at Kapanga, Matawai, and Ngaurukehu, on condition that they should receive £1 for each and every European who mined upon the several pieces of land. Demands were also made for condensation for land taken for public roads, also for damage done to kauri timber, which, by the agreements, was not to be used by the miners. Eiria Karepe and Pita Taukaka received £600 for the latter item only. On the 28th June, 1862, Coromandel was proclaimed to be a Gold Field, and H. H. Turton, Esq., was appointed to be Commissioner. The field was inspected by Mr. W. C. Braekenbury, formerly Gold Fields Commissioner in Victoria, and his very interesting report was published in the Government Gazette of the 22nd November, 1861. The commencement of hostilities in Waikato in the middle of 1863 again caused the Coromandel District to be deserted by its mining population. About one-third of the Natives of the Thames District joined the enemy, but after the fall of Eangiriri, in November, 1563, they returned to Kauaeranga.

Enclosure A.

Enclosure) B. Enclosure C. Enclosure E. Enclosure Ea.

REPORT BY MR. MACKAY ON THE THAMES GOLD FIELDS.