a.—i

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(1.) The superior chief of the large district is the principal chief by descent, and has great mana over the other chiefs and tribes within the boundaries of the district under his control (chieftainship). His mana is over the people only, and does not affect the lands of those people; but he has a claim to his own particular portion through his right to the land if his occupation was derived from his ancestors or his parents. (2J The lesser chiefs of the hapus —there are hapus whose chief occupies the land belonging to him and his hapu. Such chiefs have a form of mana that is over their own hapu, but that mana does not confer (on him) the right to take the land of such hapu for himself. But that chief has a claim to the portion of land he has a right to through ancestry, conquest, gift, or occupation from the time of his ancestors down to himself, whether large or small. 3. As for mana itself, unaccompanied with a right to the land, a chief would not have a right to the land through mana alone. These are the Maori customs observed in the Islands of New Zealand in connection with mana. Now, understanding as we do the customs of the Maoris, we have correctly set them forth herein, and we ask this exemplification of ours be superadded to those examples already supplied by the elders in the documents which are used as precedents for the work of the Native Land Court of New Zealand. That this statement also be left as a guiding principle whereby the administration of the Judges of the Native Land Court for the future in dealing with the usages of the Maori in relation to mana may be clear. Signed— Tamati Tautuhi, Native Assessor, of Ngatiporou, Aku Aku, Gisborne. Hamueea Mahupuku, Native Assessor of Ngatikahungunu, Kehemane, Wairarapa. Hoani Paeaone Ttjnuiaeangi, Native Assessor of Ngatikahungunu Hinana, Wairarapa. Hemi Matenga, of Whakapuaka, Nelson. Wi Paeata Kakakuea, of Ngatitoa, Waikanae. Eanieea Eeihana, of Ngatiawa, Waikanae. Hone Omipi, Tiamana Koiniti Maori Takiwa o Kawhia, of Ngatimaniapoto, Otorohanga, Waikato. Pepene Eketone, Ateha o te Kooti Whenua Maori, of Ngatimaniapoto, Karakariki, Waikato. Hamioea Mangakahia, Ateha Kooti Whenua Maori, Whangapoua, Hauraki. Paeatene Ngata, Native Assessor, of Ngatiporou, Wai-o-matatini, Waiapu, Gisborne.

[Evening Post Supplement, 12th May, 1888.; The Powee op the Old New Zealand Chiefs ; oe, Maoei Law. Theee is no doubt that the chiefs—the arikis (lords) as they were termed, and sometimes powerful chiefs would be called atuas (gods) even in their lifetime—had considerable sway over the land belonging to the tribe, but the lesser chiefs had their right of say also in all tribal-land matters. Nothing, however, could be settled in a satisfactory way until it had been fully discussed by the tribe, wdien the principal chief would give his veto. Still, every hapu of a tribe would form its own opinion, and was by no means bound to accept this as final. If a hapu family disagreed with the majority of the tribe its spokesman would say plainly, " Ko te puta matou ki waho o tenei korero " (we will keep outside, away from this finding or decision). Every chief was not a landowner, and the chief not owning land would not preside or occupy any important position at the tribal-land meeting, though out of courtesy his opinion might be asked, but, if given, would be qualified by his adding, " Kahorc he tikanga i au kei a koutou, kei nga tangata whai whenua " (I have no say in the matter ; it rests with you, the landowners). A chief's mana power did not give him a better right to the land than any one else in the tribe. The tribe, without any demonstration, but as a natural matter of course, held that the land was vested in the chief to hold in trust for the tribe. The chief had no power, according to old Maori custom, to part with the land ; but he had great power to prevent the tribe parting with it. It woald often be said of a chief that So-and-so was "He tangata whai whakaaro, he tangata whai mana," &c.—viz., a man of understanding and power—but this did not mean he had individual power over the land to part with it, or in later days to sell it or claim it as his own, unless power had been conferred on him to do so by the tribe. The mana, or power, of a chief depended very much on his own strength of character and force of will, and the outside means he had to enforce his wishes. Hongi flika was a powerful chief, so was Te Waharoa. Their words were law, which they enforced with the muskets they had bought. But neither the Ngapuhi or the Waikato warrior ever tried to bring their mana to bear over the land to dispose of it. In those days the other chiefs would very soon have objected, and have plainly reminded those terrible warriors that their power had been given to them by those who would take it away if they used it for their own benefit, and not for the benefit and aggrandisement of the tribe. The people gave mana to their chiefs, but they expected it to be reflected back on them again threefold ; if not, the mana dwindled and died out in the hands of the chief to reagpear elsewhere. " Kua kore te mana inaianei o mea" (So-and-so has no mana now). The term " head chief of a tribe " conveys a different meaning to a true Maori to what it does to an ordinary European. There is.no such thing as a real head chief, and there never was A Maori warrior and a Maori statesman seldom if ever were combined in one man to direct the tribe. If the tribe was at war the warrior had most say, if at peace the statesman had the