In pursuance of the instructions contained in the Commission issued to me by your Excellency, dated the 12th day of May, 1886, I convened a meeting of the Natives residing in the Wairau and Pelorus on the 19th of the same month at the Native pa, Wairau, for the following purposes:—

1.	To inquire into all cases of Natives alleged to be unprovided with land;
2.	To inquire into cases where it is asserted that the lands hitherto set apart are inadequate for the maintenance and support of the Natives on whose behalf such provision was made;
3.	To inquire into the cases of all half-castes in the Middle Island whose names are not included in any Acts of the Legislature who may still be unprovided with land;
4.	To ascertain and furnish the names, addresses, and sex of all such persons, and recommend in what quantities and in what localities land should be set apart and awarded to eaeh for cultivation and settlement purposes.

Before detailing the result of my inquiry it is advisable that a brief statement be made of the early circumstances in connection with the setting-apart of reserves for the persons (or their predecessors) on whose behalf the inquiry was held.

Under the terms of a deed of sale known as "the Waipounamu purchase," executed at Wellington on the 10th August, 1853, between the Ngatitoa Tribe and the Government, it was agreed, inter alia, that certain reservations of land should be made for the resident Natives, the extent and position thereof to be determined by the Governor.

In fulfilment of this condition, 770 acres were reserved at the Wairau for cultivation purposes and 200 acres at White's Bay for a fishing-station; and in the Pelorus 998 acres were set apart, but, as 238 acres of this quantity were allotted to certain persons as a special award, this area cannot be reckoned as a portion of the general estate. The actual quantity available for this purpose would therefore be 760 acres, and the gross total in both places would be 1,530 acres, exclusive of the 200 acres at White's Bay, which, being of inferior quality and unfit for cultivation, is not included.

The Native population in 1856, at the time the reserves were made, numbered 219, of whom 120 resided in the Wairau and 99 in the Pelorus. The acreage set apart for Native purposes in both districts, averaged over the whole number, amounts to seven acres per individual, and had the Natives not supplemented the quantity by purchasing Crown land they would have been very badly off. They did not feel so much the want of an increased area in the early days while the country was only sparsely populated by the Europeans; but, as they are now hemmed in on all sides, and page 2their requirements are much greater than in former times owing to their food supplies being cut off or considerably interfered with, they now find that the land set apart for them, for the reasons stated as well as other causes, is inadequate to their wants.

At the inquiry it was ascertained that there were 245 persons, inclusive of half-castes, who were insufficiently provided for; and I would beg to recommend that land to the extent of five thousand acres should be selected and set apart in suitable localities, for the purpose of enabling an area of twenty acres to be allotted to each individual, less the quantity already possessed.

It is impossible at present, owing to their reserves not having been subdivided amongst them, to determine the quantity now possessed per individual; and this can only be ascertained after the Native Land Court has sat in the locality. In the meantime, however, it would be advisable that action be taken to secure the land needed to increase the reserves.

I endeavoured, in accordance with the instructions contained in the last part of paragraph 4, to select land for the purpose, but found myself unable to fulfil the duty owing to the numerous obstructions that interfered with the due carrying-out of the requirement.

As far as I could ascertain at the Land Office, Blenheim, all the desirable spots on the shores of Queen Charlotte and Pelorus Sounds suitable for Native occupation, and which they desired to acquire as possessing some peculiar advantages, were, for the most part, reserved as sites for fishery reserves, or were occupied under lease or license for pastoral purposes.

The Pelorus Natives were very desirous to secure a block of land up the Rae Valley, at the junction of a stream called the Rongo with the River Rae; but all the country in that locality has been proclaimed under the State Forests Act. Other localities where they desire to secure land are within the Wakamarina Goldfield, and unavailable without specially withdrawn.

I have the honour to attach hereto, in compliance with the first part of paragraph 4, schedules containing the particulars required relative to the names, addresses, and sex of the persons on whose behalf the inquiry was made, as well as a list of the lands alluded to.

All this is respectfully submitted to your Excellency.