PETITION OF PAOBA TUIIAERE.

3

I.—No. 2.

That the boundaries of those lands were not then defined. The occupancy by the Europeans was simply occupancy Without ownership, as the lands were not purchased till some time afterwards. Tllat it was not till Governor Hobsou arrived in this Colony that any lands were sold to the Government by the Maoris, and it was then your petitioner and the other chiefs pointed out the boundaries of the lands that were sold to the Government. That Mr. George Clark, senior, at present residing at the Bay of Islands, in the said Province of Auckland, and formerly Lands Purchase Commissioner, was the European who acted in the matter of the purchase of the lands from your petitioner and the other chiefs, and we, the chiefs who pointed out the boundaries, are all living but one. The man who died is Te Reweti. That the first boundary of the lands sold to the Europeans begins at Taurarua Bay, going in a straight line to the Native road called Te Tiki (which line is edged red and the Native road coloured green on the said plan). The continuation of the road from Auckland to Newmarket till it meets the Ruareoreo Stream, which road is coloured yellow on the said plan, constitute the eastern boundary of the land sold to the Europeans. The boundary then continued in a south-westerly direction to Opou River (now called Cox's Creek), there ending, and Taurarua, the land for which your petitioner now claims compensation, was not included in any lands then sold to the Government, although the Government now hold possession of the said land, and claim to have purchased it, as the only lands then sold were to the west of the said road coloured yellow, and the said boundary line edged red. That your petitioner, and the other chiefs who accompanied the said George Clarke, senior, when the boundaries of the said lands were defined, placed a large stone in the ground as a landmark. The position of the said stone is at the junction of the said boundary line with the said Native road Te Tiki, and is shown on the said plan, and is coloured pink. That all the lauds sold were to the west of that stone, and those were the only boundaries pointed out. That your petitioner and the said chiefs were not aware that the lands were surveyed, nor were they ever informed that the Government intended to survey the said lands. Your petitioner and the said chiefs were not asked to point out the boundaries of the said lands to the surveyor ; nor did they know, until afterwards, that the Government intended to claim any othe; lands than those then sold. That your petitioner and the said chiefs, when they signed the deed conveying the said lands to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, were not aware that they had conveyed Taurarua, as the true purport of the deed was never correctly explained to your petitioner and the said chiefs, they having agreed to sell the lands to the west of Taurarua only. That in the said deed the boundary of the said land is described as the Bay of Orakei, but the bay pointed out by your petitioner and the said chiefs was the bay of the Taurarua Stream, and the Government, taking advantage of that sentence in the said deed, have included Taurarua, which was never sold; nor was the name Taurarua even mentioned in the said deed, nor has your petitioner ever been paid for that piece of land. That your petitioner and the said chiefs, when they signed the said deed, were not aware that the Government intended to include Taurarua in the lands sold. Had the said George Clarke, senior, stated that the deed included Taurarua, your petitioner and his ancestor Apihai Tc Kawau, the owners of Taurarua, would not have given their consent or signed the said deed, for the matter of the purchase of the said land. Taurarua was never mentioned, nor have your petitioner and the said Apihai Te Kawau ever received payment for the said land. That other lands of your petitioner, namely, Matapipi, Kumeu, and Waikoukou, situated in the Kaipara district, were taken more recently by the Government in the same manner as Taurarua; but for these pieces of land your petitioner has received compensation; for lands were formerly purchased by the Commissioners on behalf of the Government without the deeds describing the lands being properly read over and explained to the Natives before they were executed, and lands not intended by the Native owners to be sold were often, through error, inserted in the deeds. That your petitioner humbly begs that your honorable Assembly will not consider his claim for compensation for Taurarua is unjust, or that it has only now been advanced; for your petitioner, in the time of Governor Eitzroy, preferred his claim for compensation to the Government. That, during the time of Governor Fitzroy, the Europeans had permission to purchase land from the Native proprietors without restrictions; and Sir William Martin, on account of the love your petitioner and the said Apihai Te Kawau bore to him, was allowed to live at Taurarua. That Sir George Grey succeeded the said Governor Fitzroy as Governor of the said Colony; and immediately after the arrival of the said Sir George Grey, the lands acquired by the Europeans from the Natives were taken from them, and Taurarua was taken by your petitioner. That your petitioner did not know that the Government had asserted any right of ownership to Taurarua until the erection of Mr. Kissling's school house on the said land, and the occupation of the said land by a minister of the English Church. That immediately your petitioner ascertained that the Government had taken possession of the said land, your petitioner, with other chiefs of his tribe, waited upon His Excellency the said Sir George Grey, and informed him that the land was your petitioner's. The said Sir George 2