I.—2a

24

Rev. W. dittos. Aug. 5, 1880.

at different periods of the examination, you could not say that you were taken by surprise?— Certainly not. 742. Tou do not think I wish to rob you of this money ?—Certainly not. I never thought so. 743. Perhaps you may remember —and perhaps you may not, as you lived so far from Auckland—■ that I then was a member of the Provincial Government of Auckland ? —Tes, that was so. 744. And, very shortly after the day of this cheque being received, you will recollect that Williamson died and Sir George Grey came into office as Superintendent?'—-I remember it was at the time of Williamson's death. 745. Do you remember that at the same time I resigned my position in the Executive and left for Napier, and settled there permanently till 1877 ? —I remember you leaving for Napier. 746. I want to make it known to you how it was possible to understand how you wrote to me without my making any reply. If you remember, you said you knew nothing about the survey, the investigation, the settlement of trustees of the Tatera Block, till after Clark had sold ?■ —-I knew nothing. 747. If Clark said that you did know, is he correct ? —He must be mistaken on that point. 748. Tou told us that some time elapsed before you knew even of the fact that he had sold the land ?—Tes. 749. And that you first heard of it very shortly before you sent a cheque down ?—Tes. 750. What do you mean by very shortly ? —That " shortly " was at the time I was at Oupoui, and when the Maoris went to sell a portion of it. 751. How long before—six months before ?—lt would be more than that if we take the time I was at Ouporu. 752. Tou have a strange notion of time. I call that long. —If that is long it is a long time since the cheque was drawn out. I cannot say that Clark told me on his return of what had taken place. He very often remained on his way at the Kautiu. When I wished to have some support for the boys I consulted him, as the boys were staying with him. 753. Tou believe these are Adam Clark's signatures io these documents?—l should take them to be his signatures. There is some little difference from his usual signature; but I should take them to be his signatures. 754. Then, if any evil has been done, it must have been done by those who witnessed the signatures and filled up the document ? —There is some mistake somewhere, and that is what 1 came here to unravel, if possible. 755. Do you remember the occasion of Clark's coming to Auckland for the purpose of the sale ? —I do not remember. 756. And you do not remember his coming back either?—l do not remember the time. 757. And you cannot say that you saw him shortly afterwards ? —-It was some time afterwards. 758. Mr. JBowen.~\ Do you know Nelson ?—Tes. 759. Did you see him after that money was lodged in the bank ?—I saw him once in Auckland. It was some time after. 760. Did you ever have any conversation about it ? —I told him that the money had not been paid to my credit. 761. But did you ever speak to him about the £200, or the amount paid into the bank ?—Not that I am aware of.

Monday, 9th August, 1880. Mr. John S heehaw, M.H.R., sworn and examined. Mr. Sheehan: Perhaps I had better first make a statement to the Committee, and then submit myself to examination. The Chairman : I think that would be the most convenient course. Mr. Sheehan: The Pakiri block of land, comprising about 35,000 acres, and situated between the East Coast and the Hoteo River, closely abutting on the country which is occupied by Adam Clark and the missionary station of Mr. dittos, was put through the Court, I think, in 1869. I was present at that Court on other business, and, my own business having been completed —the cases I was concerned in having been heard —a number of people claiming to be entitled in the Pakiri Block came to me, not really professionally, but to try and arrange some settlement of their case outside the Court; and ultimately a settlement was come to whereby three persons were named and accepted by the Court as the owners of the land according to Maori custom. The land had been surveyed and brought before the Court at the instance of an old chief named Te Kiri. The persons placed in the certificate of title were a daughter of Kiri, named Rahui; a Native named Panapa, son of Hori te More, whose name appears in the evidence; and an infant named Wi Apo. The Court, having ascertained the owners, adjourned ; and in the afternoon of the same day the Judge of the Court, Mr. Rogan, asked me if I would accept, along with Adam Clark, the position of trustee in the estate. I said that I had no objection whatever, although I should thereby be debarred from charging for any professional work which I might do; and I continued to act on behalf of the estate, not only for the infant Wi Apo, but for the other two grantees as well, without fee or reward of any kind or character; and on several occasions I advertised in the papers in respect to the block for lease, and also about preventing trespass, incurring a total expenditure of between £15 and £16, which money has never been refunded to me to the present day. The man Panapa—in 1871, I think it was—was drowned in going from Pakiri to Auckland, and thereupon his people, at their runangas among themselves, settled upon Hori te More, his father, as successor to Panapa's share. I am now about to explain how the proposal that the Government should purchase this block arose. When the Waikato prisoners escaped from Kawau they were sheltered by Hori te More, and allowed to reside in one of his settlements —named, I believe, Waitangi —on the banks of the Kaipara. While there they sacked and plundered a store the property of Mr. John McLeod, who was then a member of the House of Representatives. Mr. McLeod pressed

Mr. J. Sheehan, M.S.B. Aug. 9, 1880.