G.—2

LVI

asked Taurua, " Did you make any claim to Mr. Sheehan Avhen he was Native Minister ?—Yes, I spoke to Mr. Sheehan and Major Brown. As fast as one Com- '" missioner succeeded another I repeated the same thing to him, and kept on Avith it, and shall keep on till there are no more Commissioners left." We replied, "You must understand that all those engagements of Mr. Richmond, and all arrangements made before the second insurrection, were altogether swept away by that insurrection." But Ave told him that we thought some consideration might well be shown to him now, on account of the punishment he had suffered, and of his good behaviour since ; but chiefly because the extent of land reserved for him Avas small compared Avith that given to chiefs and tribes avlio, like himself, had been in arms against us, but had received no punishment at all. We cannot find that Mr. Sheehan made a promise to Taurua, but he seems to have intended to advise a grant to him; for, in sending in a plan of the land between Patea and Whenuakura rivers, the Land Officer at Patea reported that the object of it was " to enable the Hon. Mr. Sheehan to select the locality for a grant of land to the chief of the Pakakohi, Taurua, in consideration of services rendered since the return of the tribe from Otago." There are still some points, liOAvever, to consider with respect to the takoha received by Taurua, before Ave could make a more specific recommendation to Your Excellency. lI.—THE SETTLEMENT OE THE COUNTEY. (1.) The Land that is left to us to deal with. The first thing we have to do is to see what land there will be left after meeting the engagements that have to be provided for. We lay before Your Excellency a plan Ave haA re had prepared, which shows in colour the leading points to be remembered in connection with the confiscated land. We may note at once that the area of good land left to us on the coast Avill be larger by 20,000 acres than Ave estimated in our Interim Report, the exploration of the country since that time having proved it to be better than Avas thought. Dividing the country south of the settled districts of New Plymouth into two great subdivisions, Ave said in that Report that the available land in the Waimate Plains division (enclosed by the Waingongoro and Oeo Rivers) was about 120,000 acres, and in the Parihaka division (enclosed by the Oeo and Stoney Rivers) about 125,000 acres. It will be convenient if we now give closer estimates of the Avhole territory between the White Cliffs and the Waitotara. 1. Country North of Waitara mid East of the Mountain Road. It may be said broadly, that whatever good land is left outside the settled districts north of Waitara, Avill be Avanted for the Court and Government awards and promises made between 1866 and 1868. We examined the Chief Surveyor as to the value of the blocks acquired by deeds of cession in this part of the country. Speaking generally, he told us that the character of the large tract of land north of the Onaero-Urenui Block (left white on the plan) Avas all forest, and exceedingly rough, Avith the exception of 2,000 or 3,000 acres betiveen the Urenui and Mimi Rivers, and the Mimi Valley itself. There is very good land in the Riinutauteka Block of 17,000 acres on the Waitara River, between three and four miles northeast of Inglewood; but nothing has yet been done Avith it, owing to the following circumstances explained to us by Mr. Parris : " There Was a special arrangement made with the Pukerangiora chieftainess Mere Poka. It was agreed that the whole piece there south of the Waitara River should remain until the Natives were disposed to come to an arrangement for us to take it. The block of land belongs to the Pukerangiora, Otaraoa, Ngatirahiri, and Manukorihi Tribes. It was necessary to make provision for them, and I agreed that I Avould not interfere with that block, leaving it for the Government to decide finally whether they would give it back to the Natives or not." The Court award of 2,000 acres to the Pukerangiora people will have to be allocated in this Rimutauteka Block; and immediately adjoining, on the north bank of the Waitara River, is a smaller block of

Taurua, Evid. Q. 524, 525

Statement of Commissioners, Evidence 534.

Captain Wray, 7 August 1878 in 78/2178.

Humphries, Evid. Q. 909 to 916.

Parris, Eyid. Q. 779.

Ibid, Q. 805.