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H.—2la.

MINUTES OF EVIDENCE.

PEOVINCB OP HAWKE'S BAY. Church of England. Friday, 9th Apeil, 1869. Present:—Mr. Hart. 593 acres, Poverty Bay, Bishop of Waiapu — Native School. The Venerable Archdeacon Williams, being duly sworn, states: My name is William Leonard Williams. I reside at Poverty Bay. lam a Clerk in Holy Orders. (Record copy, No. 4a., folio 33, produced.) I know the land comprised in this grant. The names of the present trustees are, the Eight Eev. Bishop of Waiapu, the Rev. William Leonard Williams, Poehipi Te Eohe, Henere Kepa Euru, Wairemu Pere, Matina Euta Toti, Pita Te Huhu, the five last-named being members of the tribe Te Whanau a Taupaia. The deed of appointment is, for safe custody, deposited in the Eegistry, Cathedral Library, Auckland. The land has all been enclosed. The greater portion is in grass. The outer fences are part post and rail, part wire, and part hawthorn fence. There are two buildings on the ground, one having been the Bishop's residence up to April, 1865, the other having been occupied from some time in the year 1857, to August, 1865, as a Native and Half-caste girls' school. The returns of the numbers in attendance were sent in every month to the New Zealand Government. The school-building is a weather-boarded building containing nine rooms— four dormitories, schoolroom, school-mistress' room, pantry, kitchen, and scullery. Previous to the year 1865, there were, besides the above-mentioned buildings, three dwelling-houses (occupied by myself, the,Eev. E. B. Clarke, and the schoolmaster for the boys' school), a schoolroom for Maori and Half-caste men and boys, a store, kitchen and bakehouse, carpenters' shop, blacksmiths' shop, barn, dwelling-house for farming men, and a large shed used for carts and other purposes. These buildings were of timber, and shingled. Besides these, there were about fifteen good raupo and toe-toe houses occupied by the men, with their families, and the boys. The establishment at that time was supported in part by grants from the Government and in part by funds derived from private sources. The proceeds of the estate, with a very small exception, were consumed in the establishment; the proceeds of any sold were applied in providing necessaries for it. There is no one at present in occupation. The buildings, excepting the two first mentioned, were, in the month of November, 1865, destroyed by Hauhaus, and the two first mentioned were seriously injured at the same time. This was done immediately before the attack upon the Hauhau pa at Waerengahika. From that time the place remained untenanted till the Ist of April, 1867, when it was leased for two years to Mr. Samuel Clarke, at a yearly rental of £200, on condition that the tenant should put into good repair all the fences, ditches, &c, and the building formerly used as a girls' school; the money laid out by him for these purposes to be considered as a set-off against the rent, and settled for as the rent became due. The last settlement we had was in July, 1868, up to which time all the rent accrued was absorbed in the expense of repairs. Since that time, Mr. Clarke has left the district, in consequence of the late disturbances, and there has been no opportunity as yet of making any further settlement. Some of the settlers who were killed by Te Eooti's party were living within two miles of the estate. I left Poverty Bay for Auckland in September last, and before I returned, in November, Mr. Clarke had left also. Mr. Clarke left people in charge of the estate, who left on the 10th November, 1868: since that time, the estate has been unoccupied. I visited it in February last, and found the fences considerably damaged, and the buildings also. During the present unsettled state of the country, the Trustees are unable to find any person who would take charge of the property. The estate is within the present disturbed district. The building known as the Bishop's house had the roof so damaged at the time of the Waerengahiki fight, that it was necessary to get it re-shingled in order to preserve the building from decay. The expenses incurred for this purpose by the Bishop, amounting to nearly £50, are still chargeable to the estate ; and besides this, there is a further sum of about £15 (more or less) owing to the Bishop for previous current expenses, which would have been defrayed by the proceeds of the estate. The Trustees, Ihaia Te Noti, and Te Teira Kupa, also named in the appointment of new Trustees, are since dead. The Bishop of Waiapu, being duly sworn, states : My name is William Williams. I reside in Napier, and am the Bishop of Waiapu. (Copy of Becord of Crown Grant, Eeg. No. 4a., folio 33, produced.) I know the land comprised in this grant, and the buildings erected upon it, and the improvements. The money expended on those buildings was paid by myself, partly derived from grants from the Government, partly from private sources, and partly from the Church Missionary Society. The expenditure for buildings was £3,476 15s. 3d., being made up of cost of materials, £1,861 Bs. 5d., and carpenters' wages, £1,615 6s. 10d.; the expenditure in fencing was £926 13s. 9d., and in draining £280 6s. 3d. ; these several sums make together £4,683 15s. 3d. The funds for this purpose were contributed as follows: —Moneys granted by the New Zealand Government, £1,848 7s. ; moneys granted by the Church Missionary Society, £1,266 13s. 4d. ; from private sources, £982; and proceeds of cattle obtained from private sources, £586 14s. lid: the original