33

I.—2A

922. You may do so, simply to assist your memory. —I want them to assist my memory chiefly as to dates. The part I took in the matter was this :It was in May, 1874, that I negotiated the purchase of the Pakiri Block. I was assisted by To Hemara, of Mahurangi. I had agreed to pay him £50 for his assistance, and also to pay him for any claim that he might have upon the block. I first met the trustees —namely, Arama Karaka Haututu and Hori te More —at Helensville —that is to say, I met them for the first time in reference to this negotiation —on Friday, Bth May, 1874. They both then agreed to sell, but the price was not decided upon. On that day I paid Hori te More the sum of £20 on account of the purchase. 923. On the Bth May ?—Yes, on the Bth May. On the same day, Friday, we left for Riverhead —that is, Adam Clark, Hori te More, Te Hemara, and I. On Saturday morning—that was on 9th May—we went down to Auckland, the four of us. On arrival in Auckland, Hori te More, Adam Clark, Te Hemara, and I went to the office of Mr. Williamson, who at that time w 7as Superintendent. When we were in that office, Te Hemara told tho Superintendent that he had managed to get the Makarau Natives to consent to a road to which they had previously objected and obstructed. After that I went horne —I was living at Mount Albert at the time —and I left the Natives in Auckland. That evening—l should say the time was about 6 o'clock —Te Hemara, Adam Clark, and Hori te More came to my house, and I paid Adam Clark £50 andTe More £50, each on account of the purchase. Te Hemara was present. I may say that the agreement was made, and notice had been given to them previous to my paying them, that the Government would pay them £I,GOO for their two shares—or, rather, for the shares which they represented as trustees. Horite More was trustee for his son Panapa, and Arama Karaka was trustee for a boy named Wi Apo. On Monday, 11th May, nothing was done. The Natives had left Mount Albert on the night previous, and returned into town. Brissenden called at my house, and I told him that I had succeeded in purchasing two-thirds of the Pakiri Block—or, rather, 20,000 acres, which was the area mentioned—for the price of £1,600. It was raining heavily that day, and that prevented him from going to town. On Tuesday, the 12th May, Mr. Brissenden, the two Natives, and I went to look for Mr. Sheehan. We did not find him at his office; we found him at the Provincial Council Chambers. About luncheon-time Mr. Sheehan came with us into a hotel at Waiariki, or, as it is also called, Official Bay. There Mr. Brissenden paid the Natives £800. However, he deducted from that amount the payments which I had previously made. 924. What payments had you previously made ? —I had paid £20 to Hori te More at Helensville, and £50 to him at my house, making in all £70. A sum of £100 was also deducted from this amount of £800, to recoup Mr. Jones, who had a timber-lease of a portion of the Pakiri Block. That £100 was deducted from the £800. I believe that Mr. Brisaenden at that time took a receipt for £800. Subsequently —that is in the afternoon 925. Just a moment. I want to get what you deducted from the £800. You say you had deducted £20 and £50 from Hori's share? —Yes; and I had paid £50 to Adam Clark. 926. Is that all—that is £220 you deducted from the £800?— Yes; Adam Clark had had £50, Hori te More had £70, and there was £100 for Jones. 927. That is, £220 ? —Yes. But the better way, perhaps, to put it is that each one was paid his own share —that the whole sum paid was £800—that is to say, £400 to each. 928. But you say that you gave it to them less deductions. You say you paid away £220. I want to get these details clear as Igo along. What were these deductions ? —There was £800 to be paid to the two Natives. Off that amount £100 was taken to be paid to Jones. This left £700 —that is, £350 to Hori te More, and £350 to Adam Clark. I deducted—or, at least, Mr. Brissenden did—an amount of £50 from Adam Clark, which I had paid him at Mount Albert in my house; thus leaving Adam Clark £300. I had paid Hori te More at Helensville £20, and had paid him £50 at Mount Albert. These two amounts were deducted, and a further amount of £100 was deducted from Hori te More, being the share which he had received from Mr. Jones on account of the timber-lease. These deductions left Hori te More a balance of £180, I think. After that, towards evening, we went in the direction of Mr. Sheehan's office in the Superintendent's buildings, and Mr. Brissenden said that he wanted a receipt then for £1,600. I believe that he then tore up the first receipt, and said that he would place the £800 to the account of the two boys for whom Mr. Sheehan and Adam Clark and Hori te More were trustees—that it would be lodged to a trust account in the bank for the two minors. On the following day —that is, if what I have stated is quite clear The Chairman: Yes. Mr. Nelson : On the following day Mr. Sheehan and Adam Clark lodged £300 to their account, as trustees for Wi Apo and Panapa. Now, all the money had been paid that I saw paid on the Pakiri Block until some months after, when £60 was paid to Hori to More. This last sum was paid some eight or nine months after the previous sums. That is all the money that has been paid. I believe £300 was lodged ; I am not quite sure whether it was I who lodged it. 929. The Chairman.'] I understood you to say just now that you are not quite clear whether you went to the bank to lodge this money ? —I have no note down of having gone to the bank for that purpose. I first wrote in my memorandum, " This morning, Sheehan and Adam Clark lodged £300;" but I subsequently altered the note to " I hear that Sheehan and Adam Clark lodged £300." I scratched out "This morning," and put over it "I hear that." I am not quite sure whether I went with Adam Clark to the bank, but it is my impression that I did. That was on the 13th May. 930. It is your impression that you did go ? —lt is my impression that I did go. It is my impression simply from other matter which I put in my memorandum-book at tho time. It is now six or seven years ago, and at this distance of time it is difficult to remember every circumstance. 931. Did you ever see that before, Mr. Nelson [lodgment-slip for £300, dated 13th May, 1874] ? —Yes, that is my handwriting. 932. After seeing that, you may conclude that you did go. You see there are several handwritings in that slip. Will you tell us which is yours —is it the words in the body, "Wi Apo, by Arama Karaka. Haututu and John Sheehan, in trust" ? —Yes, that is my handwriting. 933. The figures " £300 " ?—They are not mine. s—l. 2a.

Mr. C. E. Netsoti. Aug. 16, 1880.