No. 340 of 1881.—Petition of Maihi Paraone Kawiti and 40 Others.

Petitioners state that they live at the Bay of Islands. They say that a survey of a railway is being made through their land at Opua from Kawakawa; that the Government and the missionaries lay claim to the land, but wrongfully; and they pray that a Commission may be appointed to consider their claims, and frustrate the attempt being made to wrong them.

I am directed to report as follows:—

That Opua, the land in question, was held as part of a larger trust by the Church Missionary Society, whose claims were settled by a special grant made in 1851. The remainder, including Opua, became vested in the Crown as surplus land.