The Treaty of Waitangi || Te Tiriti O Waitangi
BY 1860 TARANAKI HAD BEEN FULLY PURCHASED ABOUT FIVE TIMES.There is evidence that land sold by the Maoris to European settlers in the early days was sold more than once. The History of Taranaki, published in 1878 by B. Wells, provided extracts from a letter the warrior chief Ihaia Kirikumara wrote in conjunction with his friend Tamati Tiraura, to the settlers in New Plymouth. In this the chiefs mention 3 of the purchases.
"Friends, formerly we, the Maoris, lived alone in New Zealand; we did wrong one to another, we ate one another, we exterminated one another. Some had deserted the land, some were enslaved, the remnant that were spared went to seek other lands".
"Now this was the arrangement of this Ngatiawa land. Mokau was the boundary on the north, Ngamotu on the south; beyond was Taranaki and Ngatiruanui. All was quiet deserted; the land, the sea, the streams, the lakes, the forests, the rocks, were deserted; the food, the property, the work was deserted; the dead and sick were deserted; the landmarks were deserted".
"Then came the Pakeha hither by sea from other dwellings, they came to this land and the Maori allowed them - they came by chance to this place - they came to a place whose inhabitants had left it. There were few men here - the men were a remnant, a handful returned from slavery".
"And the Pakeha asked, where are the men of this place? And they answered, they have been driven away by war, we few have come back from another land. And the Pakeha said, are you willing to sell us this land. And they replied, we are willing to sell it that it may not be barren; presently our enemies will come, and our places will be taken from us again".
"So payment was made; it was not said, let the place be taken, although the men were few; the Pakeha did not say, let it be taken, but the land was quietly paid for".
"Now the Pakeha thoroughly occupied the purchases made with their money; and the Maoris living in the land of bondage, and those who had fled, heard that the land had been occupied and they said, Ah! Ah! the land has revived, let us return to the land. So they returned. Their return was in a friendly manner. Their thought of the Pakeha was, let us dwell together , let us work together".
"The Maoris began to dispute with the Pakeha. When the Governor saw this he removed the Pakeha to one spot to dwell. Afterwards the Pakeha made a second payment for the land, and afterwards a third; and then I said, Ah! Ah! Very great indeed is the goodness of the Pakeha, he has not said that the payment ceases at the first time".
"My friends the Pakeha, wholly through you this land and the men of this land have become independent; do not say that I have seen this your goodness to day for the first time. I knew it formally, at the coming here of Governor Grey, I was urgent that the land might be surendered and paid for by him; that we might live here together, we the Maori and the Pakeha. And my urgency did not end there but through the days of Governor Grey.................".
This letter was written by the warrior chief Ihaia Kirikumara and his friend Tamati Tiraura at Waitara on 15 July 1860 and records that the land in that area was paid for three times over.
For additional study, please read: "The Realms of King Tawhiao", by Dick Craig.
LAND SALE DOCUMENTS AND REPORTS
Here are some of the many existing official documents, which give an account of the Government and settlers purchasing the same Taranaki territories many times over.
Photo originals of the deed of sale and payment receipts for Waikato Chief Te Wherowhero's sale of Taranaki can be acquired from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). Te Wherowhero, who under Maori law was the rightful owner, sold Taranaki to Governor William Hobson on the 31st of January, 1842. This payment was in addition to earlier payment made to Chief Wiremu Kingi at Waikanae by William Wakefield or additional repayments to purchase the same territories, several times over, in the years to follow. Wakefield made two substantial purchases from Wiremu Kingi (Te Whiti) and other chiefs, including Te Rauparaha, on the 25th of October and the 8th of November 1839 (see Copy Of The Deed Of Purchase, New Zealand Company 7 & 8). One of these was the entirety of Taranaki. In the final tally, Taranaki was fully purchased from Maori up to five times. The problems leading to war in Taranaki were due to the deceit of Chief Wiremu Kingi (who also signed his name Te Whiti), who returned to the district in 1848.
APPENDIX DMEMORANDUM
-No.7-
(No. 40)
Copy of a DESPATCH from Governor Browne to his Grace the Duke of Newcastle.Government House, Auckland, New Zealand,
27 April 1860
(Received 12 July 1860)
My Lord Duke,
I have the honour to forward 25 copies of a memorandum prepared by the Colonial Treasurer, containing a statement of certain matters connected with the present insurrection at Taranaki, and having reference to what is termed the King movement in the Waikato district.
I have, & C.
(signed) T. Gore Browne.
Enclosure in No. 7.
MEMORANDUM
The Governor invites an expression of the views and opinions of his responsible ministers on the present state of Maori Affairs
Government House, 21 April 1860. (signed) T. Gore BrowneMEMORANDUM
Auckland, 27 April 1860
That the present crisis in the affairs of New Zealand may be properly understood, it is, in the first place, requisite to give some account of the views and intentions of the native agitators known in the colony as the Maori, or Waikato, King party. The contest in Taranaki, between the British Government and the Chief Wiremu Kingi and his followers, drives all its importance from its connexion with this movement. For without the sympathy and expected support of the Waikato league, the Taranaki natives would never have ventured upon armed resistance to the British Government.The first proposal for the erection of a separate native state under the Waikato Chief Te Whero Whero (now formally called Potatau) seems to have been made as far back as 1854. There was at first considerable diversity of opinion amongst the promoters of the movement, and great consequent uncertainty as to its precise objects. Many well-disposed natives seem to have joined in it without any thought of disaffection towards the British Government, and purely, or principally, with a view to establish some more powerful control over the disorders of their race than the Colonial Government has found it possible to attempt. But there are others whose objects have been, from the beginning, less loyal. These men have viewed with extreme jealousy the extension of the settled territory and the increase of the European population. Various influences have combined to augment the effect on their minds of this natural feeling. The lower class of settlers, sometimes wantonly, sometimes under provocation, have held out threats of coming time when the whole race will be reduced to servile condition. Of late a degraded portion of the news-paper press has teemed with menaces of this kind, and with scurrilous abuse of the natives and all who take an interest in their welfare. False notions respecting the purposes of the British authorities have been industriously spread by Europeans inimical to the government, and whose traitorous counsels enable them to maintain a lucrative influence over their credulous native clients,. And there may have been some few honest friends of the Maoris, who, looking only to the better side of the agitation, have given countenance to a movement which, in their opinion, promised to promote the establishment of law and order, and the advance of civilization, and to afford a beneficial stimulus to the languishing energy of the Maori people.
The Government at one time entertained a hope - a hope now deferred, but not abandoned - that the good elements in the King movement might gain the ascendancy, and become the means of raising the native population in the social scale. It must, however, be admitted that the agitation has of late assumed a most dangerous phase.
The two objects of the league may now be affirmed to be, first, the subversion of the Queens sovereignty over the northern island of New Zealand, an secondly, the prohibitions of all further alienation of territory to the Crown.
As regards the first object, the more advanced partisans of the Maori King now distinctly declare, that the queen of England may, for aught they know, be a great sovereign in her own country, but that here, in New Zealand, she shall become subordinate to their native monarch from whom the British Governor shall take his instructions: the utmost conceded to the Queen is an equal standing with King Potatau.
The absolute prohibition of further land sales is a necessary part of the new policy, or it is plainly seen that unless the further colonization of the country can be put a stop to, the Europeans will shortly outnumber the natives even in the Northern Provinces.
The general sentiment of the New Zealanders with respect to their territorial possessions entirely harmonizes with the views of the King makers. The Maori feels keenly the parting with his rights over the lands of his ancestors. The expressive words of the deeds of cession declare that, under the bright sun of the day of sale, he has wept over and bidden adieu to, the territory which he cedes to the Queen. It is in vain to assure him that the land remains open to him upon the same terms as to the European settler. He cannot see the matter in this light. The soil, with all it memories, and the dignity conferred by its possession, have passed over to the stranger, and in its place he has acquired only perishable goods or money, which is speedily dissipated. The land-holding policy of the King party is popular, because it secures to every native the occupation, in savage independence, of extensive tracts of wild land.
When the first emigrant ships arrived at Port Nicholson, and landed their hundreds of colonists, the natives are said to have wept at the sight. They had been told, but had not believed that the foreigners were coming to settle in great numbers upon the land, which the agent of the Colonizing Company had just acquired. They had not realized to themselves that their country was about to be occupied by a civilized race in such force as to be able to hold its ground in spite of native resistance. The New Zealanders have always been fond of having amongst them a few Europeans, dependent on their good will, but they love to remain masters. It is the notion of the King party that the settlers in New Zealand should be placed much on the same footing as the European squatter in a native village, whose knowledge and mechanical skill procure for him a certain amount of respect and influence, but whose homestead is held in sufferance, and who is obliged to comport himself accordingly. 'Send away the Governor and the soldiers," they say, 'and we will take care of the Pakehas"
The old chief Te Whero Whero, who has been a firm ally of the British Government, has been removed by his relatives of the new faction from his late residence at Mangere, near Auckland, to a place called Ngaruawahia, at the confluence of the Waikato with its principal feeder, the Waipa. There his supporters have established the old man (who seems to lend himself unwillingly to the farce) in a kind of regal state. The deputation dispatched from Taranaki to solicit support for W. King, were clothed for the occasion in a uniform dress. They approached in military order. At a given signal all fell on their knees, whilst someone in a loud voice recited the text, 'Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the King!" After the interview the deputation retired, facing towards the Royal presence. They appeared to have been well drilled in this ceremonial.
The absurdity of these pretensions does not render them less dangerous. Unfortunately, they are supported in the minds of the natives by an overweening opinion of their own warlike skill and resources. It must be confessed that the imperfect success of military operations in New Zealand has given some countenance to the native's fixed opinion of their own superiority. In the debates of the Maori Council at Ngaruawhia, the experience of the wars against Heki and Rangihaeata, and of the Wanganui war, are constantly referred to as showing how little is to be feared from the prowess and the boasted warlike appliances of the Pakeha.
As regards the farther alienation of territory, the received interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi recognizes rights in the native proprietor, which must be respected, however inconvenient those right may prove. But it would not be politic, or safe, or right, to submit to the attempted usurpation of a power obstructing the settlement of the country which the admitted interpretation will not warrant. The treaty secures to the native proprietor the right to part with to the Crown, or to retain for himself, lands which are his own. The King party would assert a national property in, or sovereign rights over, the remaining native territory, and are ready to support all opposition to land sales, without nice inquiry respecting, and even without reference to, the merits of each particular case. In this they infringe, at once, upon the rights of the Crown and of the native proprietor.
It is by no means meant to assert that all who have joined, or who favour, the party of the Maori King propose to themselves ends so dangerous and unjustifiable. Potatou himself is probably sincerely averse to any proceedings hostile to the Government. It is however, uncertain how far he may have power to restrain his people, and it is undeniable that sentiments quite as strong as those above described are freely expressed throughout the districts south of Auckland, and may be expected to shape the action of the large part of the powerful tribes of Waikato.
Such then is the party to whom William King [Wiremu Kingi...or... Te Whiti] of Waitara, is looking for support, and it is to be feared, with some prospect of success: and it now becomes necessary to give some explanation of the origin of the present disturbances at Taranaki.
The settlement of New Plymouth was founded in 1841 by the Plymouth Company of New Zealand, which subsequently merged in the New Zealand Company. There were at that time scarcely any natives in the district [about 50]. Some had fled southward, to Cook's Straits, to avoid the invading Waikato's. Many others, who had been captured on the storming of the Ngatiawa stronghold, Pukerangiora, still remained slaves in the Waikato country. The New Plymouth Company's agent had purchased off the resident natives, with the assent of some of their relatives at Port Nicholson and Queen Charlotte's sound, a tract of country extending from the Sugar Loaf Islands to the place called Taniwa, between three and four miles north of the Waitara River. The block extended about 15 miles along the coast, and contained 60.000 acres. It included the land now the subject of dispute. After the arrival of the settlers, the refugee Ngatiawas and manumitted slaves from Waikato [freed after negotiation and ransom paid by Rev. John Whiteley of Kawhia Mission] began to return in great numbers, and disputed possession of the block with the settlers. So completely however was the Waikato right of conquest admitted, that their permission was sought, and obtained by the returning Ngatiawas before they ventured to set foot in the district. The Waikatos had, however, previously transferred their rights to the British Government by the Deed of Cession, which will be presently referred to.
In 1844 the Land Clams Commissioner, Mr Spain, investigated the New Zealand Company's title, and reported in favour of their purchase. But Governor Fitzroy took a different view of the rights of the absent and enslaved Ngatiawa, and refused to confirm Mr Spain's award.
In consideration of an additional payment, the returned natives consented to surrender a small block of 3,500 acres, comprising the town site: and within these narrow limits the British settlement was for some time confined. Other small blocks were subsequently, from time to time acquired, ,and the settlement now extends for a distance along the coast of about five miles in each direction, north and south, from the town. The European population amounts to upwards of 2,500 souls, greatly outnumbering the resident natives.
The northern boundary of the settlement is little more than four miles from Waitara. But on this side of the town the Crown lands are intermixed with territory over which the native title has not been extinguished . A singular spectacle is here presented of peaceful English homesteads alternating with fortified Pas, which command the road to the town at many points, unpleasantly reminding the spectator that the savage law of might still rules in this fair district.
It need scarcely be said that the occupants of these Pas do not regard themselves, and practically are not, amenable to British jurisdiction. Since 1854, they have been in continual feud amongst themselves, and there has been a succession of battles, and of murders, in close proximity to the settled territory. A chief has been slaughtered on the Bell Block: skirmishing natives have sought cover behind the hedgerows: and balls fired in an encounter have struck the roof of a settler's house.
The feuds have arisen out of disputes as to the title of land. One native faction has been steadfastly opposed to the alienations of territory to the Crown : the other party has been not less passionately determined to sell, and the contest has been as to their right to do so. The sellers naturally carry with them the sympathy of the colonists, who feel that an extension of the settlement would bring, not simply a material prosperity, which this unfortunate place has never known, but also the far greater blessings of peace, security, and the prevalence of British law.
It is obvious that in such a state of things the relations of the two races, thus closely intermixed, must be full of peril. The embarrassment to the Government is extreme: but without some knowledge of the native character, its extent will not be fully apprehended. When a native has offered to cede land to the Crown, his pride (perhaps the strongest passion of a chief) is committed to carry the sale into effect against all opposition: and it may be equally dangerous to the peace of the county to accept or refuse the offer. If the offer is accepted, the Government becomes involved in difficulties with the opposing party: if refused, the seller will seek to revenge himself upon his opponent, or become disaffected towards the Government that has put a slight upon him. If his passion does not run in either of these directions, he will probably persevere in his attempts to induce the Governor to purchase, thus keeping open a source of agitation and peril. Taranaki is by no means the sole seat of such difficulties. At the present juncture in the affairs of the Colony the Government is in other quarters, place in a similar dilemma, and is in the greatest danger of alienating these chiefs who are friendly by the rigid scrutiny to which it is requisite to subject their offers of land. The truest policy would be a fearless administration of justice between the contending parties. Unfortunately to determine absolutely what is just is often impossible in these cases: and were this otherwise the British Government is not in a position to enforce its award.
In march 1859, the present Governor visited New Plymouth, and on the 8th of that month held a public meeting of all the principal chiefs of the district, the native Secretary, Mr. McLean, acting as interpreter. The proceedings had reference to the establishment of British Law throughout the Taranaki district, and in the course of this address the Governor said 'He thought the Maori's would be wise to sell the land they could not use themselves, as what they retained would then become more valuable than the whole had previously been.
He never would consent to buy land without an undisputed title. He would not permit any one to intercede in the sale of land unless he owned part of it. On the other hand, he would buy no man's land without consent.Immediately after this declaration by the Governor, a Waitara native named Teira.stepped forward and speaking for himself and a considerable party of natives owning land at Waitara, declared that he was desirous of ceding a block at the mouth of the river, on the South Bank. (App No 4). He minutely described the boundaries of the block, stating that the claims of himself and his party went beyond those limits, but that he purposely confined his offer to what was indisputably belonged to himself and his friends. Being a man of standing and his offer unexpected by many present, he was listened to with the greatest attention, and concluded by inquiring if the Governor would buy his land. Mr McLean replied that the Governor accepted the offer conditionally on Teira's making out his title. Te Teira then advanced and laid a native mat at the Governor's feet, thereby symbolically placing his land at his Excellency's disposal. Teira's right was denied by none except a native named Paora, who informed the Governor that Te Teira could not sell without the consent of Weteriki and himself. Teira replied that Weteriki was dying (he is since dead) and that Paora was bound by the act of his relative Hemi, who concurred in the sale. William King [Wiremu Kingi] then rose, but before addressing the Governor, said to his people" I wish only to say a few words and then we will depart.Then, turning to the Governor, he said "Listen, Governor: notwithstanding Teira's offer, I will not permit the sale of Waitara to the Pakeha. Waitara is in my hands: I will not give it up: e kore, e kore, e kore (I will not, I will not, I will not) I have spoken": and thereupon abruptly withdrew with his people.
William King [Wiremu Kingi...Te Whiti] was one of the Ngatiawas who had retired to Cook's straits, whence he returned to Taranaki in 1848. Though a well-born chief, his land claims are not considerable, and lie chiefly, if not wholly, to the North of Waitara. On his return to Taranaki, being still in fear of the Waikatos, he applied to Tamati Raru, Teira's father, for permission to build a Pa on the south bank, which was granted. He put up his Pa accordingly close to one occupied by Teira's party; but his cultivations are on the north side of the river. Rawiri Raupongo, Tamati Raru, Retimana, and the other members of Teira's party have cultivated the block sold to the Governor. But King has been joined by a number of natives, who have gathered about him since his settlement at Waitara; and these men have encroached with their cultivations upon the proper owners. This has been a source of dissension, and one reason determining the sellers to part with their land. King's particular followers, who have been enjoying the use of the land, without any claims to share in the proceeds of its sale, naturally support him in his opposition.
During the space of eight months, which elapsed between the first offer and the final acceptance of the land, opportunity has been freely afforded to adverse claimants; to come forward and establish their right. The last occasion was on the 29th November 1859, on the payment of the first installment of the purchase-money, which was publicly done in presence of King [Wiremu Kingi] and a large number of Europeans and natives. (App No 5) On that occasion, a document setting forth the boundaries of the block was read to the assembled natives by Mr Parris. Appended to the document was a declaration, on behalf of the Governor, that if any man could prove his claim to any piece of land within the boundary described, such claim would be respected, and the claimant might hold or sell as he thought fit… No such claim, however, was put forward.
The question of title is one on which persons not versed in the intricacies of native usage cannot expect of form an independent judgment. It is a question to be determined upon authority. The native secretary, Mr McLean, who, in addition to this general experience, has a special acquaintance with the Taranaki Land question, dating back to 1844 denies King's right to interfere. The Rev. John Whitely, Wesleyan Missionary at New Plymouth, and Mr Parris, the District land Purchase Commissioner, both of whom have had a long acquaintance with the subject, agree with the native secretary. A very valuable testimony in the same effect is furnished by a letter recently addressed to various chiefs of Waikato and Mokau to Wi Tako, a Ngatiawa Chief, a translation of which is appended to the memorandum (app. No 1)
Wi Tako's evidence carries great weight; as his prepossessions are adverse to the British Government. For some time he has been strenuously advocating he cause of the Maori King and the letter in question was actually written by him whilst on this return to Wellington from Ngaruawhahia, where he had been attending the deliberation of the Maori Council…It is said that he was specially deputed by Potatoua to inquire into he merits of the Waitara question.
W. King [Wiremu Kingi] himself does not assert a right of property, as plainly appears from Mr Parris's official report of the meeting, already referred to, of 29th November 1859 (app No 2). In answer to the question publicly put 'Does the land belong to Teira's party?" King says, "yes the land is theirs, but I will not let them sell it". Again, being asked, "why will you oppose their selling what is their own?" he replies, "Because I do not wish that the land be disturbed, and though they have floated it, I will not let it go to sea. It is enough, Parris, their bellies are full with the sight of the money you have promised them. But don't give it them. If you do, I will not let you have the land, but will take it and cultivate it myself"
King's stand is really taken upon his position as a chief: and possibly had the Ngatiawas not been broken up and driven from their territory, or had the circumstances of Kings re-establishment at Waitara been different, his birth might have given him the command over the tribe which he pretends to exercise. It is enough to say that King's right to dictate to them is not recognized by the principal men of the Ngatiawa in Taranaki and that its attempted exercise is the real cause of the disturbances, which have so long vexed the district.
Still less would Te Whero Whero and the chiefs of Waikato have countenanced King's ambitions views until the rise amongst them of the new ideas of which an exposition has been given in the former part of this memorandum. The Waikatos themselves, claiming the district by right of conquest, transferred their rights to the crown in 1842, by deed of cession, of which a copy of annexed (App. No. 3). The boundaries named in the deed extend from Tongaporutu, 10 miles south of Mokau, to the Waitotara River, near Wanganui. This deed was relied upon as, at all events, precluding the interference of the Waikato in the Taranaki question.
It now seems that this reliance was not well founded. But should the tribes of Waikato take arms in a case in which they have so little concern in which the governor is so clearly in the right, and in which they are themselves so pledged and bound to support his Excellency, it will be manifest that the state of their feeling was such as that by no possible sacrifice of interest, honour, and principle, could a rupture have been long avoided: and in that case it might be, on the whole, matter of reasonable congratulation that the British Government should have come openly to an issue with the King party before the preparations of the enemy were complete. The districts north of Auckland are yet firm in the allegiance: but everywhere else in the Northern Island the determination to shake off the British dominion has steadily been gaining ground. The agents of Government hear it everywhere avowed by natives that they wish to humble the Government (whakaiti te kawanatanga), and to recover for the future Maori nation the sovereignty which they were, in the childish ignorance, beguiled to part with to Queen Victoria. The Waitara purchase has brought the government front to front with the King party before the preparations of the latter where complete. To use the phrase employed by themselves in answer to deputation from Taranaki "The Pa is not yet built."
A view of the present political state of the natives would be incomplete if notice were omitted of the part taken by the Ngatiruanui and Taranaki tribes, who inhabit the country extending from New Plymouth southward, round the base of Mount Egmont, to the River Patea. The people have long cherished designs against the British settlers, and as far back as 1853 invited Katatore, the Puketapu chief, to join them in an attack on New Plymouth. Katatore, much to his credit, firmly refused to be a party to an unprovoked atrocity, and disclosed the correspondence to the British authorities. These people have seized the occasion of the Waitara dispute to attempt the execution of their old project, which is nothing less than the extermination of the whites. They have commenced with murders already reported to the Secretary of State, and though happily repulsed with loss at Waireka, when on their way to attack the town of New Plymouth, they are, according to the latest intelligence, preparing for a fresh attempt.
That a war between natives and settlers would be of a most merciless character is probable, from the approbation, which many of the Waikato natives express of the murders of defenseless settlers perpetrated by the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui tribes. These people have shown that they are still savages, as rapacious and bloodthirsty as their forefathers. May it not be justly feared that in a contest with the settlers the impressions produced on the natives by 40 years of Christian teaching would be obliterated? Former wars had a chivalrous character, which cannot be looked for in the impending struggle.
The colonists, as a body, are in no degree responsible, directly or through their representatives, for the existing state of affairs: they have never had the direction of native policy: nor have the dictated or even suggested the acts of the Imperial Government in it relations with the natives: but they approve of the stand made by his Excellency in the Taranaki case, and are naturally willing, as their present attitude proves, to risk life itself in the maintenance of the Queen's authority over the islands of New Zealand.
At the same time it is evident that the resources of so small a community are unequal to sustain, unaided, a prolonged war with the Aborigines. Industrial pursuits would be brought to a stand-still. Under continued pressure the better part of the populations would drain off to neighboring Colonies-their places being supplied by lawless and desperate men from both shores of the Pacific. The Colony, in a word, would be ruined. Nor would the natives themselves fare better. The contending forces would be nearly matched, and the weak cannot afford to be merciful. All modes of warfare would be deemed legitimate against a savage foe: and though the Maoris might for a time gain the ascendant, their ultimate extermination would be a matter of certainty.
Justice, therefore and humanity require that England should freely recognize the onerous duties cast upon her by the colonization of New Zealand. To avert calamities such as seem to impend, it is indispensable to place at the disposal of the Governor a military and naval force, adequate to support him in ha policy of equal just5ice to the two races, which have been placed by Providence in a relation to each other so singular and difficult.
C. W. Richmond.
(No 1.)
Waitoki, Taranaki, 10 April 1860
This is my message to Waikato, that Waikato may understand the character of this foolish work at Taranaki. I arrived here, and have ascertained the causes of this war. Enough of this.
Another word: my message is to Tikaokao Chief of Tongaporutu, to Te Wetini Chief of Tarariki, to Takerei of the Kauri, to Hikaka of Papatea, to Reihana of Whataroa, to Te Wetini of Hangatiki, to Euruera of Mohoaonui, to Te Paetai of Huiterangiora, to Heuheu of Taupo, to Paerata of the Papa, to Te Ati of Arohena, to Epiha of Kihikihi, to Ihaia of Hairini, to Hoani of Rangiawhia, and Hori te Waru, to Tamihana of Tamahere, to Rewi at Ngaruawahia-to all of you. You requested me to investigate the subject and sent you the truth, which is this. Friends, this wrong is William King's [Wiremu Kingi...Te Whiti]. Another wrong has been committed by Taranaki greater than all the evils that have been done in the land*. Let your thoughts be true to the words (or pledges) given to me by you, and which we considered to be right. Friends, the work that you have to do is that which is right, and that only. Don't you look towards the foolish works of this land. Friends, listen to me- former days were days of error, the days that succeeded were days of truth: let this be your only work, to obey the word of the Great Father in Heaven, which is a line that has one end above, and the other reaching down to the earth. That is the fighting for us: be true to your agreement with me.
Friends, listen to me. The cause of this war is the land only: not the King. Let not the evil spirit lead you into temptation.
From your true friend in the Lord.
From Wi Tako Ngata
*This refers to the murders committed by the Taranakis at New Plymouth.
New Plymouth, 4 December 1859
Sir,
I have the honour to inform you that on Tuesday, 29th ultimo, I paid an installment of 100 [sovereigns] to Teira and others for their land at Waitara
On Friday the 25th ultimo, I went to Waitara to inform William King [Wiremu Kingi] that I proposed doing so.
On Tuesday, the 29th he came to town with a party of about thirty to oppose it. I prevailed on them to meet Teira's party and discuss the question, which was done in a very orderly manner, in the presence of a very large audience of Europeans.
W. King avowed his determination to oppose the sale, without advancing any reason for so doing: upon which I put a series of questions to him, which I called upon the Rev. Mr. Whitely to witness, viz:-
Does the land belong to Teira and Party: - Yes: the land is theirs but I will not let them sell it.
Why will you oppose their selling what is their own? - Because I do not wish that the land should be disturbed, and though they have floated it, I will not let it go to sea.
Show me the correctness or justice of your opposition? - It is enough, Parris, their bellies are full with the sight of the money you have promised them, but don't give it to them. If you do, I won't let you have the land, but will take it and cultivate it myself.
Teira stops in town since he received the installment, considering it not safe to stop at Waitara.
I have, &C
(Signed) Robert Parris
The chief Land Purchase Commissioner, District Commissioner
&c &c &c.,
Auckland
(No 3.)Know all men by this book: We, Chiefs of Waikato, do let go and sell these lands of ours to George Clarke the Protector of Natives for Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of England, Her heirs and successors, whether male of female: the land, and all things that are on or under this land, we sell to George Clark the Protector of Natives for an estate for the Queen, Her heirs and successors, whether male or female, for ever.
The beginning of the northern boundary is at Tongaporutu: the western boundary is along the sea- shore between Tongaporutu and Waitotara, and on the south beginning from Waitorara and going inland to Piraunui.
We receive these payments on behalf of the tribes of Waikato for their interest in the said land [£]150 money, two horses, two saddles and two bridles, 100 red blankets.
Witness our names and signs, written in Auckland on this 31st day of January in the year of our lord 1842.(Signed) Te Kati
Te Wherowero
Witnesses -
(Signed) J. Coates.
George Clarke, Sub-Protector(True translation)
(Signed) Thomas S. Forsaith.
(No 4)
THE TARANAKI HERALD
12TH MARCH 1859
PAGE 3
COLUMN 3His Excellency's the Governors acceptance of Teira's and Retimana's offer of land at Waitara may be considered as the first step of the re-occupation of that district and opens out a new era for Taranaki. Yet important as the offer is especially when considered in relation to the express determination of the Governor to purchase the claims of individual natives as opportunity offers, it is to its consequences rather than any immediate results that we have to look. It may be some time, a considerable time perhaps, before the great benefits to be derived from the offer will be realized, but it is highly gratifying to know that the system we have for so long advocated, (and which completely succeeded in the Bell district) is at length formally recognized and assented to.
It is true that the Natives named have only assigned their Individual interests to his Excellency, but in so doing they have shaken off the ban that has for so long enthralled them, and set an excellent example which will not be lost upon the Natives.
The practice hitherto adopted of requiring assent of all the Natives before accepting offers of land has tended directly to the non-purchase of land. - Placed the seller at the mercy of the non-seller - discouraged him in his efforts, and in more than one instant has added him to the list of dissidents.
At the meeting of Natives on Tuesday the Governor most distinctly stated that he was prepared to buy individual claims to land, but that he would not consider the purchase of a district complete until every claimant had given his consent to the sale and had been fairly compensated.
The declaration will have the effect of pacifying the Natives on their most fertile subject of quarrel since the reliance they feel in the integrity of the Government will leave the most turbulent and unruly amongst them no pretext for the adoption of violent steps in defense of their rightsTaken from The Taranaki Herald 12th March edition 1859. Copied by Lila Smith, New Plymouth.
(No 5)THE TARANAKI HERALD
3rd DECEMBER 1859
PAGE 2
COLUMN 4
A Payment of one hundred Sovereigns was made to Teira on Tuesday on account of his land at the Waitara. It will be remembered that his Excellency the Governor accepted Teira's offer last march on the understanding however that his title to the land be found valid and not to interfere with the rights of other natives.
Much opposition was shown at the time and since towards Teira by a comparatively considerable section of Natives interested in the issue, but his Excellency, notwithstanding, received a flax mat (parawai) from him figuratively to express that he was prepared to accept that what was Teira's own to dispose of.
It might afterwards have been discovered that the land it represented, belonged to someone else. But it was known at the time, indeed it was denied by the opposing natives themselves, that the land offered was exclusively Teira's: the determination was undisguisedly to prevent land being disposed of at all, and as loud talking had but too well succeeded on former occasions, a similar result was counted upon in the present instance.
In this expectation they were to be disappointed. The Natives were invited to see the money paid, and finding it impossible to prevent this being done they adopted their customary expedient of quitting the meeting, declaring the land should never be occupied. This like their previous threat that the land should not be paid for, need occasion no apprehension, as hitherto we must say the important and somewhat delicate business of treating with Teira has been judiciously dealt with on the side of the Government.
The interval that was allowed to elapse before making the payment has done much to conciliate and allay irritation. The Natives see on the one hand that the Governor will buy no land in the face of an opposition
Without first satisfying himself of the rights of the parties, and on the other that an opposition must substantiate its claim to be respected.
The question then was not one of mere local interest - the purchase of a few hundred acres of land in a district from which the settlers were unrighteously expelled by a former Governor, but was to be judged of by the influence it promised to exercise on our future relations with the Natives throughout the island.
As such it was watched by them far and near, and even emissaries of Potatau were busily engaged in it.
Had the attempt to prevent the sale succeeded, it is not too much to say that the purchase of land would for the future be impracticable. The stand on Teira's offer was doubtless taken with a full sense of its responsibilities, but founded as it was on a rigid observance of the Treaty; it really involved little risk since the Natives could not reasonably object to this. And moreover the course taken by government throughout in relation to land in Taranaki proves that the Natives at least have nothing to complain of.Text taken from The Taranaki Herald, 3rd December edition 1859. Copied by Lila Smith.
COMMISSIONER SPAINS' REPORT ON TARANAKI
No 13. Page 176. of HJR Appendix
Extracts from final report of Commissioner Spain's office of the Commissioner for investigating and determining Titles and Claims to land in New Zealand. Auckland, 31st March 1845.
Sir, I have the honour to lay before your Excellency the result of my investigation into the N.Z. Company claims to land comprised in cases nos. 374d and 374c, and founded upon two deeds, attested copies of which are herewith enclosed, dated respectively as per margins.
Relative to Land Purchase.
I have to call your Excellency's attention to the copy of minutes of my Court, also enclosed, holden at New Plymouth, which will put your Excellency in possession of my determination upon the case, which was delivered in open court, in the presence of a large assemblage of Europeans and Aborigines, ( translated to the latter by Mr. Forsaith, my interpreter) and which decided that the New Zealand Company was entitled to a Crown grant of a block of 60,000 acres of land, commencing on the North side of the Sugar Loaf Islands, and extending in a northerly direction to a place called Taniwa, including native reserves, with certain exceptions particularized in my judgment.
This will comprise all the land that the Company has already sold, or offered for sale in that district. My dispatch from New Plymouth, under date the 12th of June, 1844, (Nos. 44-45,) will have made your Excellency fully acquainted with the facts, circumstances, and reasons, which induced me to decide in favour of the Company. Much therefore, of the subject matter contained in this my final report upon the case, has already been brought under your Excellency's consideration.
As, however, your Excellency was pleased to reverse my decision, I think it's absolutely necessary, now that I am about, after the most mature deliberation, to confirm my former judgment, in this my final report, to recapitulate every fact, circumstance and reason, that I think bears upon the case, and is calculated to slow the correctness of my first decision so that this report may be complete in itself without reference to any other documents.
About eleven years ago, a battle was fought between the Waikato and the Ngatiawa residing in this district, at a place called Pukerangiora, when the former completely conquered the latter, taking a great many prisoners with them to Waikato, whom they made slaves.
The majority of those who escaped, fearing a further attack from the Waikato, migrated to Waikanae, Port Nicholson, and other places to the south, took possession of and cultivated the land there; and in the case of Port Nicholson I have already admitted their title by reason of their occupation, and cultivation of the soil for a period of nine or ten years, as against Te Rauparaha and others who pretended to claim that district by right of conquest.
The resident natives of whom Barrett made the purchase in question, appear to have been permitted by the Waikato to occupy this district between the Sugar Loaves and Taniwa without interruption, from the time of the taking of Pukerangiora until the purchase; most of them, however, appear to have lived opposite the Sugar Loaves, for the purpose of being ready to escape in case of further attack, and it seems to me that fear of the Waikato, coupled with a desire to have Europeans to reside amongst them, to protect them from their enemies, was one of the principal moving causes that induced them to consent to the sale of the district.
It appears to me that those Ngatiawa who, having left this district after the fight, sought for and obtained another location, where they lived and cultivated the soil, and from fear of their enemies did not return; cannot now show any equitable claim according to native customs, or otherwise, to the land they thus abandoned. Had they returned before the sale, and with the consent of the resident natives, again cultivated the soil without interruption, I should have held that they were necessary Parties to the sale.
During my residence in this country, in the execution of my commission for a period of between three and four years, I have taken every opportunity of ascertaining by every means in my power all native customs respecting the tenure of land; and, in my decisions, I have endeavoured in every instance to respect them, where certain, and where doubtful, or not clearly ascertained, I have allowed justice, equity, a common-sense view, and the good conscience of each case, to supply their place.
Bearing all these points in mind, I am of opinion that the adoption of a contrary doctrine to that which I have just laid down would lead to very serious consequences, not only as regards titles to land between the aborigines themselves, but also as between them and the Europeans.
It appears that some of the Ngatiawa tribe, after the arrival of the Europeans, and the formation of the settlement, when they thought themselves in consequence safe from their enemies, did return to Taranaki and commenced the cultivation of land within the limits of the block previously alienated to the N.Z. Company; but I cannot, for the reasons stated above, admit their title, a recognition of which would oblige me to admit that of all others similarly situated, who might at any time think proper to return and claim payment.
From my first arrival at Wellington, the chiefs Moturoa, Wairapa and others, members of the Ngatiawa tribe, who disrupted the sale of that place to the Company, constantly, told me that they should remain there until they obtained payment, and then go to Taranaki, which they had left ten years before, and claim payment for that place also.
I invariably discouraged them from taking a step, which appeared to me so unfair and unjust and I was much pleased to find that not one of them appeared at my court to assert any claim although they had full notice of my intended visit to Taranaki to investigate the claim there, and some of their people and Wairapa's son, traveled with me the whole journey. If however the claim of those who had returned since the purchase and had been once admitted, no doubt all others would have immediately claimed payment and my enquiry would have been almost interminable. On the following Saturday I delivered my judgment, to which I would call your Excellency's particular attention as showing that every possible care was taken therein to avoid unnecessary excitement amongst the natives, and that every human effort was made on my part consistently with the circumstances of the case, to preserve a good understanding between the two Races. It appears from the evidence that - pending the negotiation for the purchase - the natives pressed Barrett for some double-barrelled guns, but finding there were none onboard the vessel, they at length accepted the offered payment without them and executed the deed. Barrett still however promised that at some future period, he would procure them a case of double-barreled guns. I considered it unsafe at the time to give them the guns, or their value, in consequence of their position with the Waikato, which is fully explained in a subsequent part of the report. Under these circumstances I called upon the principal agent of the Company to place at my disposal such a sum of money as I might value the guns at, to be disposed of as your Excellency might decide for the benefit of the natives, with which request he immediately complied as will appear by his letter on the subject, a copy of which is herewith enclosed. I value the case of guns at 200 pounds, and in my dispatch (under date 12/6/1844) before referred to.
I had the honour to recommend to your Excellency the manner in which, in my opinion, that sum might be disposed of most advantageously for the benefit of the natives. I have seen any land claimed by the Company that can be spared from the aborigines, so little interfering with, or likely to injure their interests as the block in question by the enclosed return from the resident agent of the N.Z. Company, your Excellency will observe that the natives had then only 121 acres in cultivation in the whole block of 60,000 acres, many of which were commenced long after the sale, yet in order to avoid as far as possible the cause of any misunderstanding between the two races, I have carefully reserved all these cultivations, their Pa's and burying grounds, in addition to the 60,000 acres to which they are entitled as native reserves. Ample provision has thus been made for the natives in the reservation of land, more than sufficient for their wants.
The block originally claimed by the N.Z. Company was two miles more in length and two miles more in breadth than that shown in the plan forming Enclosure No.9 of this report, and was thus reduced by the principal agent of the N.Z. Company after our arrival at New Plymouth, leaving another immense block of the very best and most valuable land immediately adjoining that of the Company for the natives. This map will show your Excellency where the native reserves in the suburban sections have been chosen, none however have been made for them in the rural sections, although 159 out of the 500 sections have been already selected by the Company's purchasers, owing to the absence of any authorized agent to select for the natives, as this might probably inflict an injustice on the natives by depriving them of their one choice in ten. I addressed the resident agent on the subject, in a letter of which I enclose a copy. The condition I have therein insisted upon with regard to the future selection of unchosen native reserves will form a part of my present award.
The principal agent having communicated to me that he was ready in any case where I might consider it expedient to make a further payment to the natives, although not strictly legally or equitably due to them, I inquired of Mr. Clarke before entering upon the case, and several times after its commencement, whether he considered it would be expedient to offer any further payment to the claimants, but he invariably stated to me that this could not be done with safety, that he had not the slightest chance of inducing the natives to accept a composition, and that if they received any further payment the Waikato would come down upon them and take it away, which would in all probability lead to a fight between them. I also heard from several authentic sources, that the Waikato, looking upon these people as slaves, were continually threatening to come to Taranaki and take them back into a state of slavery.
Had it appeared expedient, I might have recommended, as a matter of policy only, but certainly not according to the evidence as a matter of right, that some payment should be made to the natives as an act of grace on the part of the Company, calculated to assist in procuring a good understanding between the two races, but under the circumstances and with the probable consequences so apparent, I feel it would be unwise, inexpedient, and justly censurable to have pursued such a course if such an offer had been made even by way of gratuity. I am satisfied from the evident spirit manifested by all the aborigines I had seen since my arrival, that it would have been refused and construed into an admission on my part that they had not sold their land, - besides rendering them still more determined to withhold the land from the Europeans. If, on the contrary, any such payment had been accepted by those who were then present, hundreds of other claimants would have soon sprung up from among the members of the same tribe whom I have before described as now residing at Port Nicholson, Waikanae, and the other places, while there would have been probability of an attack from the Waikato.
Under these circumstances, it appeared to me to be a case where my duty pointed out the necessity of deciding whether there had been a purchase or not, and finding considerable anxiety, manifested alike by the Europeans and the native population, to learn the result of my investigation, and feeling that any further delay would not only prove injurious to both races, but was also calculated to keep alive and prolong feelings of animosity between them, I gave my judgment on the case, but wherein I have most carefully explained that the same was subject to confirmation by your Excellency, and could not be carried into effect without your approval, I felt that my decision being against the Maori, it was much better that when it was first made known to them, there should be some officer of Government on the spot, to explain fully to both races the reservations of the pa's, cultivations and burying grounds as well as one tenth of the block for the benefit of the aborigines, and it also afforded me an opportunity of offering a few words of advice to both Europeans and natives. It further occurred to me that it would be more expedient that any disappointment experienced by the natives at the first decision against them, should be visited upon me as the officer appointed for this special duty rather than expose your Excellency to the chance of sharing it, which would in all probability have been the case had my decision been first made known to them after it had been submitted to, and approved by your Excellency.
It will thus appear that while exercising a power which I then believed, (and I still retain the same opinion,) was vested in me by virtue of the commission I have the honour to hold from Her Majesty - " to investigate and determine titles and claims to land in New Zealand", I gave the fullest public notice at the time, that a Crown grant would not issue until your Excellency had approved my decision, and that I adopted on that occasion language which I thought best calculated to convey the respect and deference due from every officer holding Her Majesty's commission to the Head of the colonial Government. I think I have also shown that the circumstances and existing state of feelings between the two races at Taranaki, in every way justified the step I took, as a matter of expediency. Had I , however, for one moment entertained any doubt as to the powers vested in me or of the way in which your Excellency wished me to exercise them, a reference to your Excellency's speeches delivered at Waikanae and Port Nicholson, in the presence of large numbers of Europeans and natives would have immediately decided the course that I ought to follow.
In the report of your Excellency's speech at Waikanae, published in The Wellington Spectator of the 2/3/1844 as an official narrative (I hold the manuscript corrected by your Excellency with your authority for its publication,) I find the following passage, on your introducing me to the assembled natives. "You may place implicit confidence in the fairness and impartiality with which Mr. Spain will investigate asserted claims to land, and decide upon the nature of alleged purchases. He will also have authority to inquire into cases where it may be necessary to make arrangements for a further payment as compensation where it is fairly due."
In the report of your Excellency's speech to the natives of Te Aro, at Wellington, published in the same paper on the 6/3/ (with the like authority, and with the same correction) I find the following passage - "Mr. Spain having the Queen's confidence came out here to settle these difficulties which have troubled us for s long. Mr. Spain has also my approval for the extreme impartiality and faithfulness with which he has gone into all those difficulties, and he has my confidence in the impartiality of his future proceedings."
Again in another part of the same speech is the following passage. "The Commissioner, I repeat it, for there are some now in the room who were not here when I mentioned it before, is the officer appointed by the Queen, to inquire into and decide finally upon all these questions, someone must decide finally, and all who know him, know and believe, as I do, that he will do his best to decide faithfully and impartially for all, no man can do more."
I have thus not only your Excellency's authority, declaring that I did possess the power of deciding finally but the utmost publicity given by your Excellency to both races of my real position, thus rendering it doubly imperative upon me to pronounce my decisions publicly upon the close of each case.
It was at considerable surprise that when at Nelson in August last, I received the first intimation of your Excellency's disallowance of my decision in Taranaki from the principal Agent to the Company, who showed me a letter which from its tenor and superscription he had no doubt was dictated by your Excellency - but bearing no signature - in which your Excellency informed Colonel Wakefield that "it was not your intention to comply with my recommendation regarding the New Zealand Company's purchase of land at Taranaki, and that you should cause a further investigation to be made as soon as possible" - also stating that - " a large number of natives would be set aside (namely those who were absent, or in captivity at the time their lands were said to be sold) whose claims you felt bound to recognize and maintain."
By the same post I had the honour to receive a letter from your Excellency, requesting "me to meet you at Taranaki on the 1st October then following, and to have with me the evidence taken at my court in June last," but wholly silent as to the fact of your Excellency having reversed my decision. When your Excellency was pleased to disallow my judgment at Taranaki, I was in possession of all the depositions of both natives and Europeans that had been taken in the case, from its commencement on the 16th June 1842 to its close on the 7th June 1844. During that period I had been engaged in investigating the other cases of the New Zealand Company, had examined many witnesses of both Races, and obtained various information upon native customs and the claims of the tribes in and about the Company's settlements, - many of which bore expressly upon the Taranaki question.
Nevertheless, without having had the opportunity of seeing a line of the evidence, without consulting me upon the reasons for my decisions, or even intimating to me your intention, your Excellency was pleased to reverse my judgment - notwithstanding your Excellency's public declaration, of but a few months before, that I was the officer appointed by the Queen to inquire into and decide finally upon all these questions.
Your Excellency has not been pleased to inform me what testimony or information obtained at Taranaki or elsewhere induced your Excellency so suddenly to impugn and disallow my judgment. But I cannot forbear remarking that any such testimony or information must have been collected in the absence of three persons whose presence was most necessary on such an occasion - namely Mr. Protector Clarke who for three years had been engaged in my court as the official advocate of the natives - the principal Agent of the New Zealand Company - who during the same period had been occupied in supporting the claims of that body to land in this company - and myself, the Commissioner appointed to determine those claims who had presided at their investigation.
Their presence, requisite at all times when any inquiry was to be made into any of these claims was more than ever essential at any reconsideration of a case where your Excellency was about to reverse the decision, arrived at after a long and careful investigation by a duly constituted tribunal. Had Mr. Clarke,(whose zeal in advocating the interest of the aborigines cannot be questioned for a moment,) entertained the idea that the returned slaves had any just or equitable claim to the land, he surely ought to have brought forward such claim, and urged its recognition, but his speech to the natives on the close of the evidence, wherein he had expressed himself in strong terms to the effect that I had afforded him every opportunity of bringing forward evidence on the part of the natives affords abundant proof that Mr. Clarke held no such doctrine.
The only other point it appears to me to be necessary to comment upon is what appears in your Excellency's letter to Colonel Wakefield, as the ground upon which your Excellency refused to confirm my decision, viz - that a large number of natives would be set aside by me (namely those who were absent or in captivity at the time their lands were said to be sold) whose claim your Excellency was bound to recognize and maintain.
Now the evidence clearly establishes that when Richard Barrett purchased of the resident natives the block of land that I have awarded, as before so fully detailed and commented upon, none of these absentees or slaves were residing upon the land in question. The absentees who were driven away by the Waikato at the battle of Pukerangiora, which took place ten or eleven years ago, had utterly deserted the place to which they durst not return for fear of their conquerors, but had adopted other locations for homes, while the slaves who had been taken prisoners of war at the same battle were many of them living in a state of slavery with their conquerors at Waikato, at the time when the district was alienated by the resident natives. "The report" (says Mr. Clarke's witness) "reached us at Waikato that Ngamotu had been paid for by Richard Barrett."
Neither the absentees or slaves returned again to the district until after the sale by the resident natives to Barrett, and by the Waikato to Governor Hobson.
The question then which your Excellency has raised, turns upon whether slaves taken in war and natives driven away and prevented by fear of their conquerors from returning, forfeit their claims to land owned by them previously to such conquest. And I most unhesitatingly affirm that all the information that I have been able to collect as to native customs throughout the length and breadth of this land has led me to believe and declare the forfeiture of such right by aborigines so situated.
In fact I have always understood that this was a Maori custom fully established and recognized, and I never recollect to have heard it questioned until your Excellency was pleased in the present instance to put forward a contrary doctrine.
Since that time I have made every further inquiry in my power amongst competent and disinterested persons, whose testimony has fully confirmed my original opinion.
I enclose a copy of a letter upon this subject received from the Rev. Mr. Ironside, a Wesleyan Missionary who has been many years residing in New Zealand, and is well acquainted with the Taranaki natives, and whose opinion is entitled to weight. I am fully of the opinion that the admission of the right of slaves who had been absent for a long period of years to return at any time and claim their right to land that had belonged to them previously to their being taken prisoners of war, and which before their return, and when they were in slavery, had been sold by the conquerors and resident natives to third parties, would establish a most dangerous doctrine, calculated to throw doubts upon almost every European title to land in this country, not even expecting some of the purchases made by the Crown, would constantly expose every title to be questioned by any returned slave who might assert a former right to the land let the period be ever so remote, and would prove a source of endless litigation and disagreement between the two races, a result which must soon stop the progress of civilization amongst the natives, so essential to their amelioration.
Let it be remembered that in my award to the Company I have excepted all the pa's, cultivations and burying grounds of the natives, and that they have also 6,000 acres of native reserves, so that in fact their condition is in every way benefited and they are not deprived of any land whatever that their wants require, while the Company only acquire waste land. It will always be a source to me of deep regret that I have had the misfortune to differ with your Excellency upon this very important case considering however the high trust reposed in me when I was charged by my Sovereign with such an important commission in this distant land, admitting at the same time the difficulties and perplexities which have met me at every step in its execution, and with the most sincere desire to perform my duty honestly and justly, and with a due regard to the oath I have taken to do so. I can come to no other conclusion than that the Company is fairly and justly entitled to the whole block of sixty thousand acres of land, and therefore I, William Spain, Her Majesty's Commissioner for investigating and determining titles and claims to land in New Zealand do hereby determine and award that upon payment by the New Zealand Company of the sum of two hundred pounds sterling to his Excellency the Governor of New Zealand, to be applied for the benefit of the resident natives of the district of New Plymouth in any way His Excellency may think best calculated to promote their interests, the directors of the New Zealand Company of London and their successors are entitled to a Crown grant of a block of sixty thousand acres of land situate, lying and being in the district or settlement of New Plymouth or Taranaki in the northern division of New Zealand, which said block of land commences on the north side of the Sugar loaf Islands and extends in a northerly direction to a place called Taniwa and which said block of land is more particularly delineated and set forth upon the accompanying plan.
No.9 saving and always excepting as follows, all the Pa's , burying places and grounds actually in cultivation by the natives situate within any part of the before described block of land hereby awarded to the New Zealand Company as aforesaid the limits of the Pa's to be the grounds fenced in around their native houses including the ground in cultivation or occupation around the adjoining houses without the fence, and cultivations or those tracts of country which are now used by the natives for vegetable production, or which have been so used by the aboriginal natives of New Zealand since the establishment of the colony, and also excepting all the native reserves equal to one tenth of the sixty thousand acres hereby awarded to the said Company. Part of which said native reserves have already been chosen and are marked yellow upon the said plan of the district herein before referred to, and the remainder of such reserves are to be chosen according to the ratio one choice in ten, as fully explained to the resident agent of the New Zealand Company in my letter to him under date the 13/6/44, forming enclosure No.7 of this report, and also excepting all that piece of land containing one hundred acres reserved by the natives at the time of sale to the New Zealand Company for the Wesleyan Mission Station which said piece of land is delineated and set forth upon the said plan of the district, and also upon the plan herewith enclosed No.10, and also excepting all that piece of land containing 80 acres, and all that piece of land containing one hundred acres being sections 23 and 37 which have been reserved for Richard Barrett, his wife and children, which said two pieces of land are delineated and set forth upon the said plan of the district and also upon the plan herewith enclosed. No.11, and also excepting any portions of land within any part of the block of land hereinbefore described and hereby awarded to the said Company to which private claimants have already or may hereafter prove before the Commissioner of land claims a title prior to the purchase by the New Zealand Company.