No. 3.
The Chief Protector to Mr. Protector Halswell.

In reference to the disposal of Native reserves for the benefit of the aborigines, I am directed by His Excellency the Governor to convey to you the following information, for your guidance and instruction.

His Excellency has appointed a Committee to decide on the acceptance of tenders for Native reserves, to be composed of the Chief Magistrate, the Protector of Aborigines, and the Crown Prosecutor, for the Southern District. The tenders will be opened in the presence of the Committee, and the majority will decide on those to which the preference should be given. All public notices will be issued under the sanction of this Committee, and the number and description of the allotments to be let must therein be set forth. No allotment must be offered for competition the possession of which is disputed by the Natives; and the period for which leases may be granted is not to exceed seven years. Ten per cent of the annual rent must be paid by the lessee as a fine previous to possession being granted, and the rent paid every six months.

Until further instructions shall be forwarded to you, you will strictly confine the appropriation of the funds realized from the reserves to the following purposes, viz.: The education and religious instruction of the Natives, included under which head is the enclosing with a respectable fence of paling the ground on which the Native churches are erected at Te Aro and Pipitea; the better fitting up of the above churches for the accommodation of the Natives who meet for public worship, to the number of two or three hundred, and a small salary to the person who may be recommended to His Excellency as a Native teacher; the appropriation of a portion of the funds for a dispensary, medical advice, and other assistance for the sick, for a Native schoolmaster, and for carrying on a school for Native children.

The Protector of Aborigines will report to His Excellency the proceedings of the Committee by the earliest opportunity.