G.— 4

3

Europeans who are new to the district, namely, that they are to get all the land back again some day. Mr. Elwin also said he believed two of his cows had been taken by Natives, as they were missing, and a Native who never had cattle of his own before sold two calves to a settler. Mr. Elwin said he had no present proof, but thought he should be shortly in possession of a clue, which he intended to follow up. I spoke to some Natives about these cattle, when they told mo that Mr. Elwin suspected them because they had killed some of their own cattle when Titokowaru and party came through; that they sold the skins to the butcher, which they would not have done if the beasts had been stolen, for fear of being found out. Ido not think there is much proof either pro or con. No. 4. I visited Mr. Mills's place, but he was not at home, but Mrs. Mills supplied me with the following: That a Native, name unknown, came to their place with two dogs and wanted to go across their land. Mr. Mills objected to his taking dogs with him for fear of his sheep being molested. That the Native pushed his way past, against Mr. Mills's wish, and the dogs naturally followed. Mr. Mills had told him he did not wish to stop him if he tied up his dogs till he returned, as the Native said he wanted to get some corn which was steeping somewhere on or near the property. Mr. Mills was annoyed, and next time the Native came with the dogs he (Mr. Mills) took out a gun to shoot the dogs or pretend to do so, when the Native got excited and took the gun from Mr. Mills and did his best to break it. It eventually turned out that the Native came the second time to sell potatoes. On leaving he told Mr. Mills that in a month all the Maoris would go through his land, thereby implying that in that time the Natives would again have possession. I pointed out to Mrs. Mills that the same kind of language (i.e., land all going back to the Natives) had been used for the last fifteen years, and experience had proved that we are getting infinitely stronger and the Natives weaker, and that I was fully persuaded that such boasting meant nothing. I asked if any direct threats besides this had been held, out, but Mrs. Mills said none. Mrs. Mills stated, however, that she did not think any harm would happen, but that she and all the neighbours would feel more at ease if, say, a dozen of the Armed Constabulary were stationed at Pungarehu, as she had children going a long way to school, and she felt anxious, which anxiety would disappear if she knew there were men stationed as above. Apart from newspaper reports, which are often misleading, as representing really the opinion of the writer, I believe Mrs. Mills's idea to be the prevailing one amongst the moderate-minded settlers in and around the Parihaka district, a number of whom are new to Natives and their ways. No. 5. I inquired of Mr. Mcßeynolds if he had any complaints to make against the Natives, or if he knew of any cause they fancied they had of ill-feeling agamst him. He replied, No; he was always on the best of terms with them. With regard to his store at Parihaka, he had been in treaty with Te Whiti to sell it to him, which Mr. Messenger confirmed, and why it had been pulled down he could not say. No. 6. I went on to Parihaka and saw Tohu, who is evidently under the impression that Major Goring, when he left Parihaka with the Armed Constabulary, gave up all the buildings, stores, and all, to Te Whiti and people, in accordance with Mr. Bryce's promise, when the Natives complained about the timber being taken from their land to build houses : that, when the Armed Constabulary .left, the buildings would revert to the Natives. I may state that all these buildings are on Native land. Tohu informed me that, when the Armed Constabulary left, Europeans commenced to pull down and carry away the portable parts of some of the buildings before the Natives touched them, and this probably led to the Natives taking all they could to prevent others from taking what the Natives considered theirs. I afterwards saw an important chief called Te Whetu ; and he told me he did not hear Major Goring give all the buildings over to the Natives, and was annoyed at Mr. Mcßeynolds, and the large barracks being destroyed, as he looked upon the matter as peculiarly his own. They were pulled down in his absence. I cannot understand why Mr. Mcßeynolds's place was touched, and on speaking to Mr. Messenger, who is very fully informed, in fact an eye-witness, on all these matters, he told me he could assign no reason. I afterwards referred to threats said to have been held out by Natives to Europeans, but, having found comparatively so little foundation for the reports, I did so only slightly, saying that the Native Minister had seen a number of reports of threatenings and robberies in the papers, and I had been sent to see both Natives and Europeans, so as to hear both sides, and. report what I heard. Tohu said others had been on the same errand, and all he could say was what actually came under his knowledge. He knew nothing about these things. He was not responsible for what was in the papers : those newspapers were written by Europeans and not by Natives, and the latter knew nothing about them. I stated, in conclusion, that there was no ill-feeling between the two races, but disputes and quarrels would, arise between people speaking different tongues, and strongly advised them, in case of any such happening, to appeal to Mr. Messenger, who spoke both languages, and they would often find a little explanation would clear away apparent difficulties. I gave similar advice to those settlers I visited. No. 7. Mr. Driller has had some little difficulty about pigs, when he says threats were used ; but that is now all over, and he is the best of friends with the Natives. In conclusion, I can find no cause whatever for alarm, and the Natives are, so far as I can judge quite indisposed to disturb the statu quo, but it is hard to make the new settlers, who have their families around them, believe so. The robberies, &c, even if committed by Natives, might similarly happen in the most settled portion of the Island. As an instance of how little dependence can be placed on these kinds of reports, I may state, incidentally, that a paragraph appeared in a Taranaki paper stating that, when the Natives under Titokowaru returned from Pukearuhe lately, they entered Mr. Chapman's orchard at Urenui, and, in spite of his protests, robbed it of all the apples. I made it my business to inquire into this report, and found it entirely without foundation ; and I have a letter from Captain Messenger, who saw Mr. Chapman himself, stating that the latter might have had a few apples stolen by some of the young