Enclosure 1 in No. 24.
George Clarke, Esq., sen., to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary.

Your letter of 16th September, enclosing a letter from the Chief Hira, of Orakei, together with a copy of a letter from the Surveyor-General "on the subject of a claim set up by the Ngatiwha-page 156tua tribe to a portion of land situated between Mataharehare and Orakei," I duly received this day; and I have the honor to transmit to you for the information of His Excellency the Lieut.-Governor the following remarks:—

In the absence of all public records upon the subject in dispute, it appears to me that His Excellency's remarks are conclusive. If the Natives have permitted the surveys to be made of the said lands, and some of the allotments to be occupied, without having brought the case under the notice of the authorities, I fully concur in considering that the Ngatiwhatua tribe have failed in establishing their claims.

If the surveys of the land in dispute were made during the time when I had the honor of holding office under Her Majesty's Government, the Natives would doubtless have brought the subject under my notice. I have no record or recollection of their ever having done so.

I have written a letter to the Ngatiwhatua tribe in answer to the one they have written me, which, with a translation, I herewith enclose for the approval of His Excellency the Lieut.-Governor.