9

G.—2,

98. There was not even an allotment in the town given ?—No. 99. But the town exists now, does it not? —I presume it does. It was not a question of land ; the reserve was to be for a fishing-place. 100. Major Brown, Civil Commissioner, made the following explanation : When I paid some of the takoha, or compensation, to these Natives, Hone Pihama, with tho consent of those present, agreed that £500 should be reserved to purchase fishing-stations. I went into the question of what laud there was at Eangatapu that could be made use of, aud I found that there were some ten or fifteen acres surrounding the town and extending down to the beach which could be obtained from the Government. I ascertained that part of the laud had been set apart for educational purposes. 101. The Commissioners.] Out of the fifteen acres? —No, there were still fifteen acres available ; but I found it impossible to make any exchange, the School Board having let the land. We then went to Pukioha, another fishing-station, where I found that there was an excess of fifteen acres over the quantity which the European was entitled to; but the Crown grant having been issued, I could not obtain possession of it. Hone Pihama and myself offered to purchase from tho European, but ho declined to sell. There was another fishing-ground called Wairaki, which we were unable to make any arrangement about. But the £500 still remains available ; and I see no difficulty in tho Government granting the unalienated portion of the Eangatapu, as I think ought to be done. 102. The fifteen acres ? — Yes, it is about fifteen acres. I may say that Mr. Sheehan was favourable to the Natives having it. 103. Is that in the township ?—lt surrounds the township; it is on the river-side and on the sea-side. 104. Tlie Commissioners : That seems clear about Eangatapu ; there is a piece of land left at the river-side which has not been granted away ; and our word to the Governor will be that the grant shall issue, to carry out Mr. Eichmond's promise. 105. Major Brown : Hone Pihama was my colleague in the matter, and assisted me in distributing the takoha. 100. Hone Pihama: Major Brown's statement is quite correct. The £500 was for the benefit of the three hapus —namely, Puketarata, Ngatitanewai, and Ahitahi. It was my advice that this money should be retained. I was in favour of it, because I pitied these three hapus, all the other tribes and hapus having land on the coast, and they had none. Okahu had a fishing-place at Eangatapu, which we have already spoken of; but neither Ahitahi, Ngatitanewai, nor Puketarata had any fishing-grounds on the coast; and Major Brown agreed with me that this money should bo held back to purchase fishinggrounds for these people. That is all I have to say on that subject. Wharerata was quite right in what he said about the £200 balance of compensation for the land this side of the Patea Eiver ; but I advised Major Brown to withhold the £200, in order to allow time to find out those claimants who had not received money when the £800 was paid. That was why w 7e retained that £200, which now remains with us. 107. Mr. Parris : What the Natives have said about the Okahu Eeserve is true. 108. The Commissioners.] Where is Okahu? —Opposite the blockhouse at Waihi. It extends down to the Waingongoro Eiver. It was promised at the time when Katene and Karereused to live at Colonel McDonnell's camp. They were living there with their people. They asked for the reserve, and they were promised it, and received it. 109. Then what was done about it ? —lt was surveyed, and they were put in possession. Katene was living there, and also Karere. 110. Is the reserve still there ? —Yes ; it is let. 111. Let by whom ? —I do not know who let it, but Mr. Caverhill rents it. It was let since my time. 112. There is no difficulty about that, then ? —None whatever, that I am aware of. 113. Do you know anything about the Eauna Eeserve of 100 acres ? —I have no recollection whatever of anything concerning 100 acres at Eauna. Ido not even know where the place is. 114. Karere said : When I returned from Wanganui with Mr. Eichmond, after the sitting of the Court, we were called upon to point out what places we should like reserved. I went with my brothers, who are sitting here now. When we got to Okahu we pointed out the laud, and we were told that we should have 285 acres. We then went on to Te Eauna. 115. The Commissioners.] Who was with you at tho time?—Mr. Wilson Hursthouse, the surveyor. When we got there we pointed out the land; it was then under cultivation. 100 acres at that place were given to the people of Okahu, and Mr. "Wilson Hursthouse told us that in addition there was some land for us on the coast. He said it contained 50 acres, and was called Te Kawakawa. We were prisoners at that time. There were four blocks of land given to us :Te Eauna, Kawakawa, Okahu, and Eangatapu. Te Eauna is near Waihi. The seaward boundary is land belonging to Mr. Einlayson, and is some of the land that was ploughed by the Natives who are now prisoners. 116. Katene, of Wheriwheri, said : On account of the length of the investigation into this matter, I should like to say a word. I wish to confirm the statements made about Okahu. Mr. Eichmond was the Native Minister at the time. Karere, Eangiwhitu, Kaitawa, and myself went to live on this land amongst the Europeans near Colonel McDonnell's camp at Waihi. There were thirty of us who lived there, or more. It was then stated that this land should come back to us. Colonel McDonnell told us to point out the boundaries that w re wished. Mr. Booth then came from Wanganui. He informed us that he was to be Commissioner. He said, " You must all sign your names." We all wrote our names down on a paper. Perhaps the document we signed is still being preserved. We were asked to point out the boundaries we would agree to, and the place we wished to have. We pointed out Okahu and Ngarakau, the places where we had cultivated ; and the number of acres was given out as 385. We divided this land off ourselves ; 100 acres inland, and 285 acres to the seaward. We pointed out 80 acres on the coast as a fishing-place. These words I heard with my own ears, and I have remembered thorn ever since, and kept them until the present time. I wish to say, with reference to what Karere said about tho 50 acres at Kawakawa, that I heard the name mentioned myself at the time. I did not see it written down, but we heard it spoken of, and Karere said he had 2-G. 2.