5

G.—l

There is one subject to which I would respectfully wish to draw your attention, and that is the great desire of the whole of the Native people for the settlement of Europeans amongst them. The Karuhiruhi Block at Whirinaki, lately purchased by Mr. White for the General Government, was sold by the Native owners under the idea that it would be speedily laid out in farms and settled upon. The block is easy of access by both land and water, and a large portion of the land is well suited for farming purposes. In conclusion, I have great pleasure in stating that the loyalty of the Natives in this district is unchanged, and as firm as it ever has been, —that they feel as great an interest in the government and welfare of the country as the Europeans around them, —that they are year by year adapting themselves more and more to our habits and customs. In fact, the general condition of the district is decidedly progressive. I have, &c, , Spencee Yon Stuemee, The Hon. the Native Minister, Wellington. Eesident Magistrate.

No. 4. The Eesident Magistbate, Waimate, to the Hon. the Native Ministee. Sic, — Eesident Magistrate's Office, Waimate, Bay of Islands, sth May, 1873. The report I have now the honor to lay before you of the state of the Natives of this district, will differ but little from that which I submitted for your consideration in the month of June last. During the intervening months the Natives have been quietly pursuing their usual avocations, maintaining with the settlers that friendly intercourse for which they have been so long characterized, and manifesting amongst themselves a greater degree of harmony and good feeling. The expenditure of public money in the district is affording employment to many, who at the present time are engaged in the formation of roads at Mangakahia, Ohaeawae, Utakura, and various parts of Hokianga, the work being executed in a creditable manner. The timber trade at Hokianga and Whangaroa continues to give employment to many in those districts, but a depression in the gum trade has considerably reduced the number of diggers, keeping back many who otherwise would be obtaining their supplies from this source of industry. On the whole, however, the Natives are better prepared for the winter than they were last year, the crops generally having been good ; and but for the heavy floods which have lately swept through certain portions of the district, destroying large quantities of potatoes and kumera, they would have had an ample supply of provisions. Sickness has been prevalent in the district, and many deaths have occurred, principally amongst the aged and infirm. Two chiefs, however, neither of them elderly men, were, after a short illness, both taken off in the month of October last. The one a Ngapuhi, Te Whata, chief of Otaua; the other, Te Tai Papahia, of Waihou, Hokianga, a chief of the Earawa; both Assessors of the district. A desire for the establishment of schools is gaining ground. At Waimate, Mangakahia, Waima, and the Heads of Hokianga, schools have already been established and are progressing favourably. Other school buildings are in course of erection, with fair promises of support. Should these schools succeed, a spirit of emulation may be excited, other tribes induced to exert themselves, and the education of Maori children become general. I cannot omit to notice the very interesting meeting which took place at Eussell on Wednesday, the 19th of March last, on which occasion the monument erected by the Government to the memory of the late loyal chief Tamati Waka Nene was unveiled by Sir George Bowen in the presence of a large concourse of people. The ceremony was most gratifying to the Natives, and well calculated to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the races. Not less than a thousand Europeans and Natives were assembled at this meeting, which passed off in a most satisfactory manner. The melancholy intelligence of the murder of an European by Waikato Natives has been received by these people with indignation and disgust. But one feeling has been expressed by all whom I have met—that of utter detestation of the act, and a hope that the murderers may be brought to justice. I have, &c., The Hon. the Native Minister, Wellington. Edwd. M. Williams, E.M. .

No. 5. Mr. E. W. Ptjcket, Thames, to the Hon. the Native Ministee. Sic,— Native Office, Thames, 30th April, 1873. The almost total want of change, during the past twelve months, in the tone of the Native mind in this district towards the whites generally, leaves little to report, —indeed there is absolutely nothing new that I can inform the Government of in this direction; but I have much pleasure in stating that the distrust as to the intentions of the Government which for so many years has been evinced by those sections of the Maori tribes which joined the Hauhau movement, and which has so prejudicially affected the repeated attempts made by successive Governments of this Colony to bring about a closer bond of union between the races, is passing away in this district, as I doubt not it is in most of those parts of this Island in which the seeds of discord were once sown, and the way for a better state of things is rapidly being paved. The Natives are devoting more time and attention to agricultural pursuits, and less to useless political meetings. This is the case at Ohinemuri especially, where, in)addition to ordinary cultivation, they are taking a good deal of trouble to lay down such portions of land as are not immediately required for cropping, in English grasses, and in fencing it ,in with wire. I have been urging upon