Whiritoa.

Contains 1,558 acres, one-third of which is good fern land, a portion is swampy, the remainder is sand. It is situated south of Okaka. These two blocks were included in a number of others which have lately been purchased. The uniform price of 1s. an acre was fixed by the Government, but the Natives would not agree to the price for these two pieces of land. There is now a letter in the Native Office from Keene, offering to accept 1s. 6d. an acre, and I submit that, as the Natives have reduced their price from 3s. to 1s. 6d., and as it is really important to have the south head as a pilot station, it is desirable to purchase these blocks at the price asked, i.e., 1s. 6d.