G.—s

made to the families or individuals to whom the land was so allotted. The Natives present agreed to this, and have written a letter (copy appended) expressing their desire that such plan should be carried out. I promised, Sir, to recommend the measure to your approval. It will require an expenditure, chiefly in surveying, of about £300 to carry out; but having in view the fact that an individualization of title had been from the first promised to these people, and believing that the plan would tend to remove a long-continued source of irritation, I did not hesitate in assuring them that it would receive the careful consideration of the Government. If the individualization of the Tahurangatira reserve can be successfully carried out, other of the reserves may also have to be divided; and when enough subsistence land is surveyed off and rendered inalienable, the restrictions to lease, which are now keeping several large and valuable reserves unutilized, and are much complained of. might be removed, and tenants found for them. Tauranga. The lease of lot No. 50, in the suburbs, has been transferred from Mr. H. L. Skeet to Mr. Noah Parsons. The tenant, Mr. G-ray, of lot No. 72, in the town, having shown conclusively that the rent agreed to be paid was excessive, a new arrangement has been entered into, by which the rent shall be £5 a year instead of £7. Lots Nos. 140 and 141, in the town, have been let for 21 years, to Mr. R. F. Koller, for £5 first seven years, £10 second seven years, and £15 for remainder of term. PKOVINCE OP WELLINGTON. The following lands have been purchased by the Commissioner of Native Reserves for the Government, namely : — No. 1, —Sixty-nine acres at Pencarrow Head, being the "Wellington lighthouse site. This was a part of a large reserve made by Colonel McCleverty, in 1848, for the Petoni Natives. By some inadvertence a beacon first, and subsequently a lighthouse, was erected on this reserve, without the consent of the Native owners being asked. In 1865 the lighthouse was purchased by the General Government from the Province, and several attempts were made to purchase the necessary land for a station, but the Natives required a sum that was unreasonable and excessive. In September last I obtained the assent of the Natives to convey to the Crown sixty-nine acres around the light-house station for the sum of £138; and to commute their claims for rent, firewood taking, and cattle trespass, from the time the General Government had been in possession, July, 1865, to July, 1873, for the sum of £35. The sale has been carried into effect and the deeds registered. The adjacent land at Orongorongo had been held since 1852 as a sheep station by Mr. Riddiford, who had received a Crown Grant from Governor Grey for an area of 594 acres in the midst of it. The cession of the land to the Crown had never, however, been completed. It lay just beyond the limit that the Natives averred they had sold to the New Zealand Company, and a payment of £30 out of £100 had been made to them for it in 1853, when the negotiation was interrupted. In November last I assembled together the Natives interested in the land, and offered them £70, being the unpaid balance originally agreed upon. A long discussion ensued, and the land having advanced greatly in value, and it being known that it was Crown-granted, a larger price was demanded. Ultimately, £30, as interest, was agreed to be given, and deeds of cession were signed and registered. I have purchased from the owners of section 57, at Taita, in the Hutt, four acres of that reserve, for the Wellington-Masterton Railway, for the sum of £100. At Ikamaru, near Ohariu, a section of 100 acres sold to a settler, was known, for several years past, to extend over a piece of land that was originally a Native reserve, and over portions of which certain Natives still claimed an interest. About a year since, after a very close investigation, three women, Paritawhera, Rihi, and Riria, were found to have valid claims, —the two former to forty acres each and the last to sixty acres, which areas were respectively awarded to them. As Paritawhera's claim lay contiguous to the settler's land, I obtained, at the instance of the Commissioner of Crown Lands here, your sanction to buy out her title, which I did for the sum of £15. The land was poor and hilly, of little value to the woman, but of considerable importance to the settler. The town acres Nos. 89 and 90, in Taranaki Street, on which stand the barracks of the Armed Constabulary, have been purchased for the Crown from the Te Aro Natives for £500. By these several arrangements, the causes of a long-standing discontent in the minds of the local Natives has been removed, as well as some anxiety felt by the respective settlers. The town acres Nos. 995 to 1,005, in Rintoul Street, near the Adelaide Road, comprising 11 acres, have been let by tender to Dr. A. Johnston, for twenty-one years, at a rent as follows :■ —First seven years, £20 a year ; second seven years, £25 a year; and third seven years, £30 a year. The lease of town acres Nos. 972 to 989, in the same locality, has been transferred from the Hon. Mr. Mantcll to Dr. Johnston. All the pegs of these lands having disappeared, it was necessary to have them surveyed, at a cost of £7 10s. The reserve, Te Puka, of 60 acres at Wainui, "West Coast, has been let to Mr. Isaac Smith, for seven years, at £6 a year, and 155 acres of the Wainui Reserve to same person at £8 a year. I stated in my last report, that the owners of the Native reserves in Polhill's Gully, Te Aro, and at Ohariu, had placed those lands in my hands, being unable to manage them themselves. Since taking over these lands, I have collected rents and recovered arrears to the amount of £124 11s. 6d., and placed the property, generally, on a more satisfactory footing. Thus, the road in the upper part of the gully ran along impracticable levels. This has been altered, and a new line of road arranged, and the site, 29 perches, conveyed to the Crown. As the main water-pipes for the city supply led over this ground, the City Council has paid the sum of £25 for the alteration. I have let part of lot No. 39, in Wordsworth Street, containing 3 roods, to Mr. William Thompson, for twenty-one years, at £10 a year, from Ist January, 1874. I have recovered £5 arrears from the

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