Schedule.

No. 1.
Mr. W. Mantell to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary.

Sir,—

I have the honor to forward you a letter from Karetai, praying that the Governor will not allow a portion of the Otakou Native Reserve to be taken from him.

The mistake appears to have originated in the grant of the Otakou Purchase to the New Zealand Company, wherein the Crown Reserve on the East Head is estimated to contain 250 acres, which would bring its boundary to the line AB, on the enclosed sketch, No. 1. But the true boundary is given in the map at p. 54, Parliamentary Papers, No. 45, 369, of which I enclose a copy.

I am requested to beg His Excellency to confirm the latter boundary, in order to prevent any doubt on the point from arising at any future time.

No. 2.
Translation of Letter addressed by Karetai to His Excellency the Governor.

Do not take the land of my children, because this is the land of the children, this being the real land of the Natives. Friend the Governor, listen to my speech: At the Waiwhakaheki is the beginning, and goes on to Takihareiou. Pukekura is yours, and has been sold to the Queen some time, but Pukekura is the only part of Waiwhakaheki that is given up to you. Waiari is mine, but is taken by the Europeans. The boundary is at Taikorekore, and on to Kerekere; this is the Native boundary, and on to Waiari. Waiari belongs to Timoti. Onekopua belongs to Hawea. Aokanariki belongs to Ripeka, these being the owners and holders of the land; also, part of the land belongs to Oera. Friend the Governor, give me back the land as taken wrongfully by the Europeans, because I shall be made a poor man, as the greater portion of the land belongs to the Europeans. Now Waiari belongs to the Natives; the Koau is the protector of Waiari, also Pirihira; the boundary goes to Perewahirie, then comes that of Panapa and Pita, and Pukehau, because they are the men of Waiari.

Friend the Governor, salutations to you; my word to you is ended.

No. 3.
Translation of a Letter addressed by Hone Wetere Korako to His Excellency the Governor.

Sir,—

Salutations to you, the parent of all races, whether Pakeha or Maori, inhabiting these two Islands of New Zealand.

page 198

Sir, salutations to you. This is a word of ours to you about this place, where the Pilot lives and the Signal Station stands. That land has not been purchased by you from us, that is why we continue importuning you to pay us for it. Karetai does not know that you have bought it, and so he keeps on urging you to pay for it, for it is not clear that it was included in the boundary laid down, by Colonel Wakefield and Haimona. They went over the whole boundary of the Land, and laid down the money, but it was not clear that any of it was intended to pay for this piece. For look, Governor, at where the boundary laid down by Colonel Wakefield and Haimona (Symonds) begins: It commences at Purehurehu, thence along the sand by the eastern shore of the entrance of Otago straight over the level land adjoining Portobella, thence to Poatiri, thence as far as the south side of Poatiri, thence along the sea beach to Pikiware Okaihae, thence to the mouth of the Taiari Hakatona Hakinikini, as far as Tokata, then the external boundary ceases; thence commencing the inland boundary, Pohueroa Poupoutunoa, then extending towards the interior Maukaatua, right on to Whakaari, then over to the sea coast to Mihiwaka Purehurehu, then the boundary as laid down by Haimona and Colonel Wakefield.

Sir, the Governor, those are the lands in respect of which the purchase money was laid down, £2,400, by Colonel Wakefield and Symonds; which money was accepted by Tuhawaiki, Taiaroa, and Karetai. That is all we have to say about it.

Sir, just take a look, consider the passing to you of that land on which the Pilot Station stands, of which Pukekura is the Maori Reserve, but to you, the Pakeha, is known as Taiaroa Head. This is the piece of land we want you to pay for, for a portion of the land was an old burying-ground used by generations long gone by, and by those which have followed them up to the present; for the site of that burial-place is now occupied by the houses of the Europeans at the Pilot Station, and the potato plantations and cabbage gardens.

Look, Governor, you and your Runanga, our dead still lie buried in that ground; our children, our parents, fathers, mothers, and all who died, yet it has been made by the Pakehas into a cultivation. Sir, it is for you to take this matter into consideration, in so far as it affects your dead, Look into this matter, and see whether it be right or wrong. With you is the decisive word.

That is all from the whole Runanga of Otago.

No. 4.
Memorandum by Mr. W. H. Cutten on Papers relative to the Claims of Karetai and others upon the Pilot Station, Taiaroa Heads.

There are no papers in the Land Office of Otago relative to this matter, except the Crown Grants to the New Zealand Company of the Otago Purchase. From what I can learn from the Natives here, and the papers forwarded, the Natives have no claim to what is called the Pilot Station and Lighthouse Site at Taiaroa Head. The true position of the Government Reserve is, I believe, indicated on the Sketch No. 1 attached to the papers, and admitted to be so by the Natives in their letter of the 10th of August, 1854. The Provincial Government found that it was necessary to use a part of the Native Reserve to keep the pilot boats hauled up, and pay rent to the Natives for the use of it. I think that the pilots must be encroaching on the reserve, and hence the dissatisfaction of the Natives; and the only way to set the matter at rest will be to have the land surveyed, and the boundaries distinctly marked on the ground.

No. 5.
Memorandum by Mr. Mackay on the Lighthouse Reserve Question.

With reference to the boundary of the Pilot Station Reserve at Taiaroa Heads, and the claim made for payment for Pukekura by the Natives, on inquiring I do not find either of these questions have any foundation. In the first place, the line on which the Government have erected the boundary fence corresponds as nearly with the description given in the deed of sale as it is possible to make it: the boundaries, as described in the deed, are at Waiwakaheke on the one side, and Pukekura on the other.

2.

Their claim to Pukekura is a mere pretext; there cannot be the least doubt that it was included in the sale to the Company, or why should an acre have been exempted for Native purposes? Moreover, the boundaries of the purchase are so clearly defined, that no doubt can exist on that point. The deed recites, "The northern boundary line commences at Purehurehu, runs along the sea shore; crossing the entrance of Otakou Harbour to Otupa (the point on where the lighthouse now stands); thence along the Coast to Poatiri; the eastern boundary is the ocean from Poatiri to Tokata (near the Molyneux); then the southern boundary commences." The cession of Pukekura is moreover confirmed by old Karetai's letter of 10th August, 1854, in which he admits that Pukekura belongs to the Queen, and fixes the boundary as Tai-Kore-Kore, as shown by Mr. Mantell; his only complaint is that Waiari, the land of his children, is about to be taken from him in error by the Pakeha. The plea now brought forward by the Natives, is that although Pukekura is included in the deed of sale, it was never paid for, and it was only made over to the Queen on the understanding that payment was to be made for it at some future time. There is no allusion made in Captain Symonds' correspondence respecting the purchase of the Otakou page break page break page 199Block that would give the least colouring of truth to this assertion, and the conclusion to be inferred is that it is merely an impudent attempt to gain money.

In a recent notice received from the Native Lands Court, setting forth the date of sitting of the Court at Christchurch and Dunedin, I notice amongst their claims they have sent in one for Pukekura; this claim can easily be disposed of when the time arrives.^*

Respecting the acre they are entitled to at Pukekura, it is difficult to define its precise position; the posts alluded to in the deed as forming the boundaries of it were old watta posts (not survey posts) which have long since disappeared, and no satisfactory information can be gained as to where they actually stood. The Natives are evidently bent on securing the site on which the Pilot Station stands; but if the block coloured yellow on the tracing copied from Parliamentary Papers, No. 45, 369, p. 54, is taken as the approximate position of the said acre, its position will be very near the spot indicated in the tracing herewith attached.