No.163.—Petition of Wepiha Apanui and 67 Others (No. 1).

Petitioners state that their land, called Pekapekatahi, near Whakatane, Bay of Plenty, has restrictions in the grant forbidding sale, except by the Governor in Council, and that they wish to sell this land to Europeans, having already enough for their own use. They ask that the restrictions may be removed.

I am directed to report as follows:—

That the names in the Crown grant are only trustees for the Patuwai Tribe. The land was confiscated and returned as a permanent reserve. The Committee would not recommend that the restrictions should be removed.