G.—l

6

coming in such a large body, and the fact of their commencing their entry into the town by tying up one of the citizens whom they caught on the road, and keeping him a prisoner in the tea-tree, was, I think, only a foretaste of what they would have done had there not been a sufficient force at Alexandra to arrest them. It must also be borne in mind that they were unarmed when they captured Messrs. Hursthouse and Newsham; but that nevertheless their treatment of them was none the less cruel. It is to be hoped that the term of imprisonment that some of them are now undergoing will have a good effect upon them; but I must say that I am rather dubious about the result. The only thing that will completely keep down infatuated Natives of their class will be the opening-up of the country and populating the same with Europeans. The journey of the Hon. the Native Minister through the King country, from Alexandra to Mokau and Taranaki, was an event of no little importance in the eyes of the Natives as well as of the Europeans, and it was some time after the Natives had realized the fact that Mr. Bryce intended to undertake it that they could be got to look upon it with favour. There was no objection to myself as Native Agent, or even some others well known to the Natives, going through the country, but for a Minister of the Crown to do so was looked upon by them, not only as a bold proceeding, but in their eyes it had a much more important signification, viz., that after that journey their country would be virtually open to all, and could no longer be looked upon as closed. At first they objected to the journey taking place, but finally withdrew their objection, and welcomed Mr. Bryce and party whenever they appeared at the different settlements on the road. The journey was accomplished from beginning to end without the least hitch or anything unpleasant occurring. The social condition of the Natives in the Waikato District is at a very low ebb. They are poor in pocket, poor in possessions, and, worse than all, they are poor in health. A large number, both of the young and old people, are continually being supplied with medicine at the Government expense. The diseases from which the elderly people suffer are principally asthma, lumbago, and inflammation of the lungs. The children are afflicted with all the sickness that childhood is heir to, and which, on account of poor food and scanty clothing to protect them from the cold, frequently carries them off, when, under more favourable circumstances, they might have been saved. A great many in middle life are not by any means strong, as shown by the hacking cough with which they are afflicted. The King Natives, that is those of them who live at Whatiwhatihoe, near Alexandra, are much given to drunkenness, but this cannot be so much wondered at when Tawhiao himself sets them such a bad example. The only public work in this district at present being carried on is a road from Aotea to Kawhia. I am informed that a number of Natives are employed at this work, but I have not yet had time to visit that part of my district. Hauraki or Thames District. During the past year the Natives of the Thames District have conducted themselves in such a peaceable and matter-of-fact way that there is little to report upon in connection with them, more than to say that they have continued—with one or two exceptions—to deserve the character for sobriety which I attributed to them in my last year's report. The same may also be said with regard to agricultural pursuits; they are industrious only up to a certain point, viz., the supplying themselves with food necessary for their subsistence ; beyond that they do not think it worth while to consider, and in some cases they even prefer to spend all their time in the bush-ranges searching for kauri gum, with the proceeds of the sale of which they purchase food, and thereby do away almost altogether with the necessity of growing it, or, at most, only to a small extent. This absenting themselves from their homes and cultivations is to be accounted for in a great measure by the high prices that have been ruling for gum during the last twelve months, and I think that, when that source of income fails, which it must eventually do, with their increased habits of sobriety, they will once more turn their attention to cultivating for their maintenance the land still remaining to them. The above remarks apply more particularly to the Natives of Shortland and vicinity, including the settlements of Kirikiri, Puriri, and Hikutaia. The Natives of Ohinemuri (the Ngatitamatera) and those of Te Aroha hardly deserve such a good character as regards sobriety, those of Te Aroha particularly being noted for habits of intemperance. Prohibition orders against supplying liquor to three of them have had to be issued out of the Besident Magistrate's Court during the past year. This tribe (the Ngatirahiri) have for some time been noted as a very improvident people, and unless they mend their ways will ere long be a source of trouble in the district. They have already sold all their land, excepting the reserves that were made to them out of Te Aroha Block, and nearly all these they have leased at such a low rate as to be of little or no use in providing them with the means of sustenance, so that before long they will be dependent upon their relatives in other tribes—unless, indeed, they turn over a new leaf, and, taking pattern from their European neighbours, go to work for a living. Death has been busy amongst the Natives of this peninsula during the past year, but mostly amongst the young, only two people of rank having been carried off, viz., Hohepa Paraone, of whose demise I informed you in March last, and Harata Patene, generally known to her European friends as Charlotte Barton. As I went fully into Hohepa Paraone's history and life in a previous letter, I need not do more here than say that he was a man of some sixty-five years of age, of the. first rank of Ngatimaru chiefs, a Native teacher and a Christian, and generally liked and esteemed by all his people. Harata Patene, or Charlotte Barton, belonged to the Ngatihura section of the Ngatipaoa tribe, and was the relict of the fa/te Patene Puhata, who during his lifetime was a chief and assessor of that tribe. Charlotte was a dame of considerable rank and influence amongst her people, and was much respected by the Europeans with whom she came into contact. She, like her late husband, has often exerted herself in assisting the Government in carrying out its policy amongst her people, and I am sure that both Messrs. Mackay and Puckey, the gentlemen who represented the