No. 99 of 1881.—Petition of Rawiri Hongi and 36 Others.

Petitioners claim to be owners of the Island Motuopao, or Cape Maria Van Diemen, and complain that Government had placed a lighthouse thereon without their consent. They consider that they ought either to receive a rent of £100 per annum, or £1,500 purchase-money.

I am directed to report as follows:—

That this island is part of a large tract purchased from the Natives by the Rev. Richard Taylor, and was included in a Crown grant issued to him on the 22nd October, 1844. It afterwards became Crown property, and has never since been alienated. No claim was raised to the land until the lighthouse was erected. The Committee cannot recognize any title to compensation on the part of the petitioners.