In acknowledging the receipt of your circular letter dated 17th June last, No. 518, I beg to state that, owing to my absence at the Wairoa, I did not receive your letter in time to reply to it before attending the Courts recently held by me in the Thames, and it was not in my power while there to write with any satisfaction to myself, as I was desirous of enclosing a statement showing the amount of work performed since the date of my appointment as Judge under "The Native Lands Act, 1865."

It will be observed from the schedule I have now the honour to enclose that my operations have extended chiefly through Kaipara, Whangarei, Mahurangi, and the Thames: Certificates ordered, Kaipara, 128,925 acres; certificates ordered, Whangarei, 64,417 acres; certificates ordered, Mahurangi, 6,635 acres; certificates ordered, Hauraki, 17,737 acres: total, 217,714 acres. Several extensive blocks of land in Whangarei, not included in the above, have passed the Court last held there, but the surveys are not yet properly executed.

Before the Act of 1865 had passed the Assembly, you did me the honour to forward a draft for perusal, with a request that I might suggest any alterations or improvements which might occur to me at the time; and as it then appeared to me that it contained every point necessary to carry out the intentions of the Act satisfactorily to the Natives of this district of country, who are deeply interested, I had no suggestion to offer. Now that my experience has extended over a considerable period of time, and I am better acquainted with its practical working, I do not hesitate to say that it has effectually met all the cases with which I have had to deal, and it is, in my opinion, complete in itself.

It is with much pleasure I have to state that the effects of the Native Lands Act on the welfare of the population of Kaipara, both Native and European, are better than I anticipated. For instance, three years ago the country was almost a wilderness; now the Natives are in receipt of half-yearly payments from [unclear: settlers] who have leased their lands for periods of sixteen and twenty-one years, and are busily occupied in stocking their runs with sheep and cattle; and a feature which never before was shown in Kaipara now begins to develop itself—namely, that fat cattle are being forwarded to the Auckland market. The Natives were never in such a position before, and I am glad to say they have as a rule sufficient sense to appreciate it. Pairama has an estate for which he receives £300 per annum. Arama Karaka, Manukau, and other chiefs are leasing extensive runs to Europeans, who are in a position to carry out their agreements; and after the next sitting of the Court shall have been held, a large proportion of the lands in central Kaipara will be taken up and stocked.

It was my intention to have made a comparative statement of the value of the property, stated in the schedule above referred to, before the Lands Act came into effect, and the value at the present time, which I believe would show better the real state of improvement than anything I could write on the subject; but I am unable to supply this information at the present time. I cannot say that the page 29effects of the Native Lands Act have acted as stimulus to the Natives of Kaipara in improving their cultivations.

There are four chiefs belonging to the district who farm to a certain extent on European principles. Tirarau, Tomairangi, and Pairama are the principal persons who have horses and ploughs. European farming was first introduced into Kaipara by yourself years ago, by presenting Pairama with a plough; afterwards the Government, through Mr. McLean, gave ploughs to Tomairangi and Manukau, long before the Native Lands Act was passed. Te Hemara, of Mahurangi, has improved his property recently by fencing, and building a neat house with verandah and brick chimney, which may be said to have resulted from the sale of some of his land after certificates were obtained. Several weatherboarded houses have recently been erected by the Natives in Kaipara, and by my advice they are about to cause brick chimneys to be built. There is a marked improvement in the mode of living adopted by the chiefs. European articles of furniture are found in the houses about Otamatea; and I have frequently been astonished to see, at Paikia's and Arama Karaka's settlements, all the principal people living, while I have been there, quite in accordance with the manners of Europeans.

With regard to "The Native Lands Act, 1866," I have to state that it caused the Natives some excitement at the time it became generally known that further restrictions and expenses would be added in future on all lands passing through the Court. It gave me considerable trouble to allay these fears, and they appear to think of them up to the present time. They are still under an impression that the Government had in view, in passing restrictive measures on the free disposal of their lands, the object of preventing sales to private individuals, in order that the Government might hereafter buy at their own prices; and the Kaipara people were rather confirmed in this idea, because the Provincial Government of Auckland at that time commenced extensive negotiations for the purchase of land in the District of Whangarei. As the clause in the Act of 1866 regarding the inalienation of Native reserves has not application in this part of the colony, and as I have made no alteration in the fees taken in Court from the commencement, I have succeeded in showing they were not hurt by this Act. They are content; but I recollect Keene at the time had effectually stopped the further operation of the Act by inducing the chiefs not to sell any more land to Government if restrictive or further charges were imposed.

I am not prepared to say that it may not be necessary to stop the sale of certain reserves in Taranaki, Whanganui, Wellington, and Wairarapa, but my knowledge of the three latter places is very limited. I feel, however, persuaded that such measures will not be necessitated in the District of Kaipara.