Enclosure.
General Report on Land Purchasing Operations in the Thames and Piako District.

The only part of this district at present available for land purchase is a tract of land extending from the mouths of the Waihou and Piako, 35 miles in a southerly direction, bounded on the west by the wooded range between Waikato and Piako, on the east by the coast line between Tairua and Tauranga.

The land to the south of this tract is in the hands of tribes who are thoroughly opposed to the sale of land.

The boundaries already mentioned contain an approximate area of 600,000 acres, which will represent the extent over which purchases may be effected.

Of this, the total acreage of land over which the Native title has been extinguished, land still under negotiation, and land offered, but for which negotiations have not yet been commenced, is 108,500 acres.

Old land claims of the district	15,000 acres.
Land acquired since 1856	39,500 "
Land under negotiation	14,000 "
Land offered, negotiations not yet commenced	40,000 "
	108,500

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One-third of the area to be deducted as not available, such as the wooded ranges and part of the swamps, leaves available land 400,000 acres.

Out of this quantity, as soon as negotiations are recommenced, the title would be extinguished over available land, inclusive of blocks already purchased, to the extent of 72,300 acres.

The tribes who own this land are Ngatipaoa, Ngatitamatera, Ngatiwhanaunga, Ngatimaru, and Ngatikaraua.

The negotiatins for land purchase have been hitherto confined almost entirely to Ngatipaoa and Ngatitamatera.

The last land offered to the Government belongs to Ngatiwhanaunga and Ngatikaraua.

Ngatimaru alone utterly refuse to part with their land. Their claims are not extensive, but are scattered throughout the district.

With regard to the other tribes, the only objections raised by them are mere questions of price, as they do not find the price in some instances an adequate compensation for what they look upon as the greatest sacrifice they can make, namely, total surrender of their land.

The tribes in this district in former years were constantly at feud with each other; this, combined with their subsequent intermarriages, has rendered the title in many instances almost hopelessly intricate. The few scattered remnants of the original owners of the soil, who have till of late years been in the position of serfs, now frequently attempt to reassert their right to the land, in defiance of the chiefs' right of conquest; and as they have to be referred to concerning boundaries, and when the title is obscure, it requires considerable caution to avoid exciting the jealousy of the chiefs, while conciliating the vassals.

The numerous small claims into which the land is sub-divided, and which frequently have to be treated for separately; the irregular boundaries, which bring the land straggling into each other, often entailing the necessity of dealing with two tribes at once, a proceeding always hazardous, and not unfrequently fatal to the success of negotiation: all tend to increase the difficulties, render the negotiations unusually tedious. The title to land in this district is becoming more complicated every year; in some cases the Natives are in perfect ignorance of the real state of their title, until it is investigated as connected with land purchasing operations.

The Natives still evince the same disposition to sell, induced in many instances by the dread of their land passing away after their death into the hands of other Natives who are but slightly, if at all, connected with them. This is the case with the block offered by Ngatawa Pahau, where there are no direct heirs, and where the owners are dying off rapidly.

With reference to any difficulties that exist in the district with regard to any particular block, that of longest standing is a claim made by Ngatipango to some land included in the western bounbary of the Piako Block at Kawau-tohe-roa and Tirohanga. The claim was not made until long after all negotiations were concluded, and though the relatives who made the claim were close at hand, and repeatedly sent for during the time that the boundaries were being determined, they neither made the slightest protest, nor did they comply in any way with the invitations sent to them to be present. The claim most certainly was not a valid one; the strongest point in it was vague title by descent in the female line. The alteration it would have made in the boundary was immaterial, but it was opposed firmly, as it was evidently one of the first attempts of the Anti-land-selling League to interfere in land purchase. The Ngatipango have not entirely given up their point; the question was left to be settled between themselves and Ngatipaoa who sold the land.

In carrying out instructions to consolidate the purchases on the Piako, the great difficulty consists in the Native Reserve known as Te Tikou, where the bones of several tribes are buried. The objections on the part of the Natives to the sale of this reserve have been removed, but the District Commissioner having been detached to Taranaki in August, 1860, and no operations having been carried on since in the district, the negotiation was never completed.

The determination expressed by the Natives to confine all sales of land to the west bank of the Piako has been cancelled; the land at the fork of the Waitoa and Piako having been ceded, and a block purchased on the east bank of the Piako, which connects the Piako with the Waihou land. It will be found of the utmost advantage in a district constituted as this is, to push purchases wherever it is practicable, so as to cross the country from river to river, or from the river to the coast line. It will be seen eventually that by this means, the acquisition of the land between Piako and Waihou, Waitoa and Waihou, Waihou and the sea coast, will be greatly facilitated.

The land on the upper Waitoa, which is for the most part excellent land, and to the sale of which all the Natives concerned objected at one time most strongly, has been opened up, and when land purchasing operations are recommenced, the land between the Waitoa and Waihou will be ceded. The difficulties connected with land purchase on the Waitoa were caused by Paora Te Putu's opposition, arising partly from a wish not to sell land in that part of the country, and partly from jealousy that he had not taken the initiative. Paora Te Putu having died, and his successor not being in the hands of those who had great influence over him, will render the negotiations for land far simpler.

Taraia also threw many difficulties in the way, at the same time that he pretended to advocate land purchase, but as all his opposition was grounded on Paora Te Putu's objections, he will now side with Te Moana Nui entirely.

The District Commissioner having been ordered away suddenly in August, 1860, the Natives connected with the sale of a block of land on the east bank of the Waitoa took advantage of his absence to refuse to sign the deed, on the score that the payment was not sufficient. The objection was raised by a section of the tribe who owned a very small portion of the block. Arrangements have since been made with the principal claimants amongst them to cede the whole of their lands on the Waitoa. This will remove the objection referred to, as the Natives who refuse the price of a hundred acres at one shilling or two shillings per acre will make no difficulty about selling a thousand acres at the same rate. Where there are a great number of claimants, the payment, except in the cases of a few fortunate individuals, who, by the death of nearly all their relations, have become the proprietors of the land of page 336nearly a whole hapu; excepting in cases such as these, the payment is subdivided into such small sums that the Maori, deriving very slight tangible benefit, rarely any of lasting effect, and not being able to look forward to the future advantages to be derived from having the wild lands occupied, is sure to become more or less dissatisfied with the sale of land. It is not unfrequently the case that the Natives with the smallest claim will upset a negotiation; they are always the most troublesome.

Again, however small the extent of a Native's claim, before the land is alienated he is always accustomed to view the whole tract as his, as far as occupying spots here and there for plantations, pig-runs, and fisheries; not that he claims a right over the slightest portion that does not belong to him by inheritance, but he is well aware that, unless from some cause or other he is a marked man, he will always obtain permission from the different proprietors amongst his own tribe. The lands owned by the different hapus or sections are quite distinct in the title, and frequently there are distinct subdivisions again in one hapu or section. Of course, through marriage individuals may become possessed of collateral claims in several hapus. If a hapu, or section of a tribe, wish to cede their land, they will rarely meet with any decided opposition from the tribe, unless the land of such hapu be situated in the very heart of land not yet ceded to the Government, or as part of the system pursued by the land-league to put a stop to sale of land. Any portion of a hapu wishing to sell their land are never interfered with, where their land adjoins a block already ceded.

In no instance in the district has anything approaching to what is termed tribal rights been attempted, except as immediately connected with the opposition of the land league, and then on one occasion only; in this case also the strongest plea used by the opposition was that it was a very small block to be ceded in the midst of lands not yet offered even to the Government. Setting aside the apparent indifference of the Native to his land being occupied temporarily, or any other property that cannot be removed without his knowledge being used by others, they, of course, having first obtained permission to do so, there is perhaps no race in the world more alive to, or more tenacious in asserting, their proprietary rights, and more ready to resent the interference of the tribe, unless it be to support him, than the Maori.

The land on the Upper Waihou will, from its constantly having been occupied by Whakatohea and Ngatikoi, be found more difficult to treat for than other parts of the district. The two above-mentioned tribes, descendants of the original owners of most of the land on both banks of the Waihou, were dispossessed by the Ngatitamatera and Ngatimaru, and left for many years in occupation as vassals, paying the tribute usual amongst Natives in such cases. Their attempts of late years to ignore their relative position with regard to the conquering tribes have led, and will continue to lead, to disputes that require great caution, as well as a thorough local knowledge of the Natives, their genealogy, and the boundaries, of the land, in order to adjust them when caused by negotiations for land purchases.^*

The disputes about a belt of land between the west bank of the Waihou and Te Awaiti arise from this cause; in some few instances the boundaries in the forest are lost, the men who could have given information on the subject having died. Te Hira Kake's dispute about Te Rangiora, and his subsequent refusal to sell land, arose through Ngatipaoa having included a considerable extent of Ngatitamatera land in the block ceded by them for money paid in about 1854.

A section of the same tribe known as Te Urikaraka, amongst whom Ngatai, Wiremu Hoete, and Te Ruinga took a leading part, having obtained an advance of £600 for a, tract of land in which Ngatai alone had any claim, and that an inconsiderable one, were the means of putting a stop to all land purchasing operations in the Waihou for a time.

With the exception of three chiefs, the tribe of Ngatipaoa have no interest whatever in any land on the Waihou. After a year or more had elapsed, the Waihou land was again opened for land purchase by employing Tanumeha Te Moananui's influence; and there is no doubt that, with proper care in conducting the negotiations, the Government could acquire as much land in this district as might be desirable. There will be some opposition on the part of Hoterene Taipari and others to the sale of the block offered by Ngatawa Pahau and Te Kapihana, on the east bank of the Waihou. Ngatawa is supported, and his undoubted title to the land recognised, by Ngatiwhanauhga of Wharekawa and Waiau, who, as well as Ngatikaraua, propose ceding a large tract contiguous to the block offered by Ngatawa. Te Hoterene's objections are that some land of his adjoins that offered by Ngatawa, and adds the usual cry of the Land Leage that the land shall not be sold. Te Hoterene has attached himself for the last three years to the Maori party, and is a strong partizan of the Land League, endeavouring thereby to regain his waning influence as a chief.

Te Kapihana, Ngatawa Pahau, and their party have no direct heirs, the hapu is dying out rapidly, and the Natives concerned in the opposition, hope to establish some claim to the land, when the present owners are extinct.

Amongst the Natives who stand up for the Land League, and insist upon its being carried out in this district, there are two classes; the large land owners, who have not, and will not for the present at any rate, cede one acre; and the tribes termed Manene by the Natives. These are tribes or sections of tribes, who, either owning land in some part of the country where they do not choose to reside, or having no distinct title to any land whatever, obtain permission from other tribes to occupy their land; and having done so for some few generations, are naturally anxious to put a stop to land purchase, lest the tribe on whose lands they are residing should be induced to resume occupation of the land on which the Manene had obtained permission to stop.

The Manene were not exactly looked upon as vassals, but when the tribe owning the soil was a powerful one, the position of the Manene was, in point of fact, very little better than that of a vassal.

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In all cases, however, the one expected and received from the other some sort of feudal service. Instances of the Manene acquiring any title to the land on which he had been residing are extremely rare; and it would only be after many inter-marriages, and a long course of years, that the stranger's claim would be entertained at all; inheritance to land was the only thing he could not share in with the tribe he had been received into, unless, having distinguished himself in battle, he was adopted by one of the chiefs owning the land. At all times, however, his burial ground would be sacred, but his right to these spots only lasted while the bones lay there; the hahunga once performed, the pure eaten, his right vanished.

Where the tribe owning the soil diminished in numbers, and incorporated the strangers amongst them for mutual safety under the general name of the whole tribe, the case was modified, but the rule was adhered to in all its principal points; the first fruits of land allotted to the new section of the tribe were looked for, and received by the others, and it was only when the Maori feudal system began to die out that the complication of title commenced, which is fast tending to render all investigation almost hopeless. The chiefs find their influence a thing that has past, unless exerted for mischief; the Manene, and the conquered tribes, ignore the position they have held with regard to the hereditary owners of the soil and the conquering tribes; the one assuming a right they never possessed; the others, quietly reassuming the position they forfeited some three or four hundred years ago, ask why their rights are not recognized. With these conflicting influences, and the information concerning titles and boundaries, all oral of course, being lost from time to time through deaths, it is evident that no time should be lost in ascertaining the titles and fixing the boundaries, before the complication increases.

A very short time suffices to create most important changes with regard to the title to the land. A Native, the sole survivor of hapu, is anxious to sell; he has no heirs, his connections are all equally distantly related to him; if he dies before his offer is taken into consideration, or before negotiations are commenced, the one claimant to be treated with becomes multiplied into ten or twenty, all equally interested in the land, and each claiming the whole of it. If the land had been sold before his death, these numerous claimants would have received a very small portion of the payment, if any, from him; nor would they have thought of urging their claims; they would receive the payment as acknowledgement of common descent from some distant ancestor, and not as a right. The only other dispute out of which claims may arise hereafter, is that which took place concerning two or three small blocks on the Piako, near the mouth of that river. One of the blocks is known as Kohatuanoa. This land was offered by Keha and Ngatipehi, and a sum of money paid to them as an advance on the land, in 1854. It appears that this money was shared by Keha and his own party, Ngakkpa Mahirewera, of Ngatiwhanaunga and Hori Pokai Te Ruinga, since dead, who received the lion's share. When the title was investigated in 1856-57, the sale was opposed by Te Aperalihama Wharerurutu and Ngatimaru. Keha was unable to make out any better title than that he inherited from his ancestor Waitaha, who was dispossessed by Ngatimaru and driven away, and that he had lived on the land in question for many years.

After Ngatimaru had driven Waitaha away, a section of the tribe were allowed to remain in occupation, paying tribute. Intermarriages took place between them and their conquerors; the chiefs taking the vassals' women as wives. From one of these intermarriages Wharerurutu is descended; and Keha,—disowning his own former position as a vassal,—maintained that Wharerurutu could not, on that account, inherit; descent in the female line not being considered a good title.^* Keha's plea would have held good had it not been for the position his ancestors were placed in as vassals to Ngatimaru; in fact, he himself was in the same position, and it is only some thirty years since he withdrew with his party to a small piece of land that they own at Pukorokoro, and attached himself to Hori Pokai's party.

Wharerurutu and Keha were told that the matter would not be proceeded with for the time being.

Subsequently, Ngakapa—thinking that, as had received a part of the money, the opposition of Ngatimaru was a slight to himself—insisted on ceding land for what he had received; he offered to do so, either at the Native settlement, at Te Kerepehi on the Piako, or at Kawaeranga. Niwha Kitahi, and Ngatiwhanaunga were prepared to support him unless Ngatimaru withdrew their opposition to the sale of Kohatuanoa. Feeling convinced that Wharerurutu's opposition was well founded, and that keha's title was not at all clear, and not wishing to entail any disturbance between Ngatiwhanaunga and Ngatimaru, it was recommended that Ngakapa should, under the circumstances, be allowed to repay the money received by him to the Government. This advance made to Keha was eventually of service, as the investigations to which it gave rise were the means of elucidating information of importance with reference to title and boundary of other blocks. Hori Pokai never gave any land for the money he received, Keha having most likely paid him the money as one whose influence would assist him. The money that fell to the share of Keha and his party, it was proposed should be considered as payment for their land at Pukorokoro, but they own no other land than that they reside on.

Keha is dead, and Paraone, Karamaina, and Te Moanaroa still assert that they have ceded Kohatuanoa with a good title.

The assurances given to the Natives of the district, when negotiations were commenced in 1856, were as follows:—

That no land would be purchased without ample notice being given, so as to afford every one who wished an opportunity of asserting his claim, and of protesting against the sale if there were good grounds for doing so; that on no account whatever would villages or homesteads be included in any purchase, without the consent of the occupants, and then only if provision could be made elsewhere; that no offer would be entertained if it appeared that the Natives offering the land had not reserved a sufficient quantity for their own purposes.

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This last assurance was made to meet the possible objection in the case of a hapu wishing to sell their land, that they would sell all they had, and fall back on the land of the other hapus for purposes of cultivation. At the same time the Natives were told distinctly that if any Natives, however few, could prove a sound title to land which they wished to sell, the offer would be entertained; and that if opposed by the tribe on no better grounds than that the land should not be sold, such opposition would carry no weight with it; also, in the case of the whole tribe being concerned in the offer, some few individuals alone demurring, their title would be thoroughly investigated, and their rights respected, however much the tribe might insist otherwise.

They were also told that while the rights of the chiefs holding land, as the conquerors, would be always carried out where there was no injustice in doing so, the interests of the Natives in an inferior position would be strictly looked after.

There is no doubt that the gradual opening up of the district is to be attributed to the strict observance in all cases of the foregoing promises. In a district constituted as this is, where there is a strong opposition on the part of some Natives to the cession of any land whatever, without referring in detail to the different grounds for such opposition, it is desirable and necessary to encourage and support all those who wish to cede land with a good title, and to form them into a party that will have sufficient weight and influence to carry their point without entailing serious disputes. If this were not done, the opposition would often intimidate a small body of Natives who were exercising a right they undoubtedly possessed. This refers particularly to the case of hapus or sections of tribes having dwindled away, and being tyrannized over by the rest of the tribe, when desirous of selling their land.

This plan has been carried out as far as possible in the district, and has contributed greatly, and will continue to do so, to the acquisition of land in this district. As yet the Native disturbance has not affected the land-purchasing operations in this district as far as the Natives are concerned; and there is no occasion to surmise as to what would be the result of further hostilities.

The land finally bought and paid for in the year ending June, 1860, amounted to 16,000 acres.

The land surveyed during the same year amounted to 9,000 acres. The rest of the land purchased adjoining land already surveyed there were data enough for obtaining the area; the average price was 1s. 10d. per acre.

The land itself is of fair average value, and a most important point has been gained by purchasing in different parts of the district; the cession by the Natives of the greater part of the land between such purchases being a certainty. The land under negotiation contains 14,000 acres. The sum of £320 has been advanced on this land; when the final payments are made, the land will have an average cost of 1s. 6d. per acre.

40,000 acres have been offered in several contiguous blocks. No negotiations have as yet been commenced, but there is reason to believe that this land will be acquired at the rate of 1s. per acre.

From the nature of the district, the manner in which the tribes are scattered throughout it, the complication consequent on five distinct tribes having fought against each other with various success all through the district, their inter-marriages, the lines of collateral descent resulting therefrom, the intricate nature of the title, even in a single section of a tribe, the conflicting influences of the conquerors and conquered, chiefs and vassals, all these require, in order to ensure success in the negotiation of land purchases, that the District Commissioner should devote himself entirely to the necessary investigation of title and boundary. This will always entail, as it already has done, frequent visits to the different settlements before the Natives can be assembled, and every exertion is often needed to ensure the presence of a chief, or chiefs, who may act an important part in the cession, yet have but meagre expectation personally as to the payment. Two or more large meetings are requisite under the most favourable circumstances to conclude a negotiation for land.

The Natives have idle time at certain seasons of the year; and these favourable opportunities must be taken advantage of to assemble the large meetings, otherwise an incurable grievance would be established by making the sale of land entail neglect of their agricultural pursuits.

During the months that the Natives are occupied in putting in their crops, the settlements can be visited, and all information collected from the different hapus, and the land belonging to hapus treated for separately, as is often requisite.

From this it will be seen that the District Commissioner cannot at the same time negotiate purchase of land and survey boundaries without sacrificing one duty to the other.

In general the different blocks purchased so ensure the cession of the adjacent land that a survey is hardly requite until a large tract be acquired, the boundaries being always so defined and roughly marked off as to be readily recognized when it is desirable to make a regular survey.