3

G.—s

for the adoption of some suitable land system to meet the urgent wishes of the Arawa tribes : hence the cordial and extreme friendly welcome experienced by the land agents on the occasion of their first visit to Taupo, Eunanga, Paewa, Parekarangi, Te Wairoa, Maketu, Te Awa-o-te-Atua, Kokohinau, Fort Galatea, and other Native settlements; and up to the present time it may be said, with all truthfulness, that little or no opposition rules throughout the district, except that of the old land league and certain chiefs, who have little or no land to sell. The spirit of rivalry among the Arawa tribes from the earliest times seems to have been based upon what they designate mana — i.e.. influence, power, authority, superstition, dread, &c. In all our negotiations throughout the Arawa country this mana protrudes itself, but the two dominant parties now assuming to hold this power are the Ngatiwhakaue and Tuhourangi tribes. It has been our practice from the first to ignore the mana, because it professes to be perfectly distinct from the ownership of the soil, and moreover the assumed mana by these dominant tribes is repudiated by the genuine owners of the soil. It does seem strange indeed that in these times, when Maori rule is almost annihilated by European usages, that any chiefs or tribes in the Arawa country should be found to assert their mana and to base their pretentions on it, and this seems doubly strange when we take into consideration the fact that all the leading chiefs of the Arawa are receiving Government salaries, by which act they have to all intents and purposes virtually abandoned the Maori notions of authority. To retain their ancient rights of mana and to draw their Government salaries is perfectly incompatible, and to attempt usurpation by claiming to have mana now, when the great majority of the people repudiate their assumption, is equally absurd. We do not go into the basis of this mana, as to how it comes to pass that one tribe should possess it and not another; but as far as we have been able to glean information, the mana question has arisen from the practice of the more powerful domineering over the weak; the power arising from birth, intellect, and other fortuitous circumstances. It will be seen b} r the above remarks that it would be quite out of place for us, as land agents, to recognize the mana of chiefs or tribes ; and accordingly we have steadily adhered to our first determination, namely, to treat only with the recognized owners of the soil. The attitude assumed by us in this respect has induced the chiefs and tribes claiming mana to deluge the Government with letters and telegrams, in the hope that they would be able to extort money on the ground of this Maori mana, forfeited long ago and fully ignored by all parties. It may be remarked here that when Christianity was introduced into New Zealand all Maori slaves were emancipated, and every individual Maori was looked upon as the owner of his land, the chiefs having been disrobed of their inana power. The repeated endeavours of the Arawa chiefs and tribes to base upon this mana their claim to compensation in regard to Maori lands is simply the reiterated cry, " Give, give;" and they assure themselves that nothing is lost by making the demand. This has been our experience in dealing with this mana question. But should the adherents of this undefined Maori mana continue to exert their clamour, the matter may readily enough be set at rest by a series of Native meetings, aided by Government, as these simple tribunals would be the only effectual mode of settling this purely Maori supremacy. Another subject which has given rise to fierce argumentation among the Arawas themselves, and harassed us perpetually,'is that of the toa, or braves, and the singularity of the question, and the extent of its ramifications throughout the district and far beyond it, is as troublesome as it is remarkable. The simple and advisable course would be to ignore the claims of the toa, not being based on Maori custom, and on the ground of its having been repudiated by the Native Lands Court in a full and lengthened sitting, under the able inquiry of that excellent Maori scholar, Judge Smith. But the Arawas, as a people, do not argue but resort to declamation, a course which intimidates the weak, who are generally right, and strengthens the position of the more powerful, who are almost always wrong. The demands made by the braves proper are based upon the supposed military services achieved by them on their own behalf and on behalf of certain tribes acknowledged to be owners of the Maketu soil, which military services were carried out long antecedent to the colonization of New Zealand, and on this ground alone the assumption of these braves should have been repudiated, especially when a large number of the so-called braves who performed the military services are owners of the soil; but though they have alienated the land to Government, they also demand compensation as braves: thus by Maori scheming and mere braggardism they hope to secure double payments from Government, one for the soil itself, and the other for military services on their own behalf. There are four sets of braves, those with whom the attacks upon the common enemy originated, those who risked their lives by personal daring, those who lost most relatives in the fight, and the great crowd who rushed to take loot and otherwise help the army when the foe was routed. It should be stated that many of the braves who have no interest in Maketu soil, but are residing thereon, have abundantly compensated themselves long ago by taking possession of certain lands there which they cultivated and still retain. To eject this class of claimants from the lands now in their occupation would probably bring about local disturbances, but to grant them other privileges is most unjust to all other outside tribes who assisted in the tribal wars. As, however, the toa question has been recognized, the greatest care and prudence are required to set the matter at rest, as it still agitates the whole Arawa community at Maketu and Eotorua, and since the recognition numbers of claimants from distant parts have started up from their concealment demanding compensation on account of the old Maori fights. The peculiarity of the Arawa country, in relation to its wonderful terraces, its geysers and numerous mineral springs, is attracting numbers of visitors year by year from Europe, America, Australia, North and South Islands of New Zealand; and owing to this large concourse of persons during the summer months, and the benefits derived by invalids from various mineral baths, said to contain sulphur, arsenic, naptha, alum, iron, and other chemicals, many private speculators have leased and bought plots of land unlawfully, anticipating that the district will ere long become populous, in consequence of its multitudinous springs and other advantages. That such a country should become the property of the Crown, and that strenuous efforts be put forth to secure so desirable an object, will scarcely be questioned by any man of reflection, although it is considered fashionable by newspaper writers to deplore the action of Government in its attempt to secure this valuable public domain, and to cry the country down as a " silent barren desert," broken only by its lakes —Taupo, Eotorua