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The Hon. Mr. O'Eorke, Secretary for Crown Lands and Minister for Immigration. The office of Colonial Secretary is not yet appropriated. I liave^ &c, The Eight Hon. the Earl of Kimberley. G. A. AENEY.

No. 11. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand to the Eight Hon. the Earl of Kimberlev. (No. 33.) Government House, Wellington, My Lord,— New Zealand, 10th April, 1873. Adverting to my recent visit to Kawhia, and to the Memorandum of the Native Minister transmitted in my Despatch No. 31, of this date, it may be superfluous for me to add any remarks thereon; but, as sanguine anticipations are formed that our visit to Kawhia will be followed by important results, I venture to invite your Lordship's attention to some of the conditions on which those anticipations are based. The harbour of Kawhia, as your Lordship is doubtless aware, is nearly midway the ports of Manukau and Wanganui, on the western coast of the North Island, and opens by far the most valuable inlet in that long, often tempestuous, line of coast. Its waters cover a considerable area, and ramify up two principal channels into the surrounding hills. Those hills fold back into the interior, connecting themselves at no very distant interval with the great Pirongia ranges, which latter, after rising in some parts more than 2,000 feet, at length descend upon the lower waters of the Eiver Waipa, and enclose that side of the great Waikato basin. Amidst and behind the hills which encompass the harbour of Kawhia, but with easy access to its waters, the Maori King and his immediate adherents have planted themselves. An aakati, or pale of separation, which the colonist is rarely allowed to pass, having been established on the side of the Waikato, the progress of settlement and civilization from the interior of this Island is barred; and while the harbour of Kawhia continues closed to seaward, the exclusion of the settler and the isolation of the Natives are complete. Eegarded with a view, either to strategic objects or to the isolation of the inhabitants, the site is but too judiciously chosen ; and this exclusive arbitrary control of an extensive and commodious harbour forms perhaps the most real, if not the only symbol of true sovereignty held by Tawhiao. On the other hand, it may reasonably be expected that if the harbour of Kawhia be once again opened to shipping, its shores will again become the scene of European enterprise, and that totally different relations will thenceforward arise, not only between the Natives and the settler, but between the Natives and Her Majesty's Government. I say " again," for Kawhia was formerly settled, to the reciprocal advantage of both races. Vestiges of the settlers' improvements still remain; and after steaming a considerable distance up the harbour, we first anchored opposite an European-built house and store (now deserted), wherein a settler formely conducted a lucrative trade with the Natives, and is reputed to have laid the foundation of a fortune which he now enjoys in a neighbouring Colony. The soil up the hill slopes from the water's edge, while it is sometimes open and at others covered with bush, is generally productive, and not unfrequently is of excellent quality. Cattle also were visible in various directions along the shore and along the hill sides. The Native occupiers formerly raised and brought to market large supplies, the product of those slopes, upon which occasionally arc still seen traces of fencing and cultivation. Indeed, we shared the benefits of their cultivations; for shortly after the " Luna" anchored, Natives appeared tracking their courses from different directions to the shore, for whom Mr. McLean at once sent one of the ship's boats to bring them on board, and who brought with them good melons of different kinds, grapes, apples, &c, lamenting only that they had no previous notice of our intention to visit them, and thus had failed of an opportunity to bring much larger supplies. But, notwithstanding their advantages of soil and climate, these Natives appeared to be miserably poor. On the Waikato