G.—7

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Ngati-Pikiao, for military services, and in view also of the fact that Rewiri Manuariki took a very prominent part in assisting to arrest the murderers of Fulloon. In view of these circumstances we have no recommendation to make. Petition No. 7. 72. This is a petition by Ngati-Rangihouhiri and Ngati-Hikakino, hapus of Ngati-Awa, praying for a grant of land in the Whakatane District. They allege, that, with the exception of a small area, the whole of their lands were taken under the confiscations, that the bulk of what was left to them was subsequently taken under the Public Works Act for the Rangitaiki drainage scheme, and that, although they were paid compensation, the result was that were left dependent upon other tribes for suitable lands to sustain themselves. 73. These hapus were directly implicated in the murder of Fulloon, and later in resisting the arrest of the murderers. They were the tribes who accepted Hauhauism when it Was first introduced into the Whakatane District, their headquarters then being Matata. A considerable area of their tribal lands was confiscated and awarded to hapus of the Arawa. 74. The land returned to these hapus is estimated as approximately 278 acres, together with very small shares in common with other Natives in Lot 28 and 31, Rangitaiki. Of the 278 acres, 187 acres were taken under the Public Works Act, leaving them an area of slightly over 100 acres, the bulk of which, according to the evidence submitted, is sandy and poor in quality. The number of members of these hapus at the present has been estimated to be 60. 75. We think that, owing to the confiscations, these hapus have not sufficient reserves for their ordinary maintenance, and recommend that some land in the locality of Matata be given to them, and that in fixing the relative interests of each individual his interest in other blocks be taken into account. Hawke's Bay District. Petitions Nos. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. 76. These petitions were conducted separately before us by counsel and Native advocates, but the claims were heard together, as they all related to the one matter. That was the cession, or, as it is sometimes termed, the confiscation, of the Kauhouroa Block, in the Wairoa District. 77. That cession was effected by a deed or agreement bearing date the sth April, 1867, made between Reginald Newton Biggs, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, on the one part, and certain chiefs and Natives of the Wairoa District having rights or claims within the district therein referred to. The agreement, after reciting some of the provisions of the East Coast Land Titles Investigation Act, 1866, witnessed that, in consideration of the said rights and claims and of the loyalty and good services of the said chiefs and Natives during the insurrection on the East Coast and of the covenants thereinafter contained on their part, and in order to consolidate the claims of Her Majesty under the said Act, and of the several hapus to which the said chiefs and Natives belonged, the said Reginald Newton Biggs agreed to withdraw all the claims of Her Majesty under the said Act so far as related to the land comprised in the schedule lying south of the Ruakituri River, as shown on the sketch-map drawn on the agreement, except the land within certain specified boundaries, this excepted part being what is known now as the Kauhouroa Block. The said R. N. Biggs agreed also to make certain reserves in this block. The chiefs and Natives, for their part, in. consideration of the covenant and reserves and of £800 paid to the hapu, agreed to withdraw all claims they or any of them had in the Kauhouroa Block, and ceded the block and all their right, title, and interest therein to Her Majesty and her successors. 78. In petition No. 9 it was claimed that (a) the confiscations were excessive ; (b) the confiscations made should have been concentrated upon the district starting the rebellion. In petition No. 10 it was claimed that a promise had been made by the Crown that a portion of Kauhouroa Block should be restored to the petitioners' tribe in recognition of their loyalty during the Hauhau rebellion. In petition