No. 15.
Mr. Commissioner Hay to the Chief Commissioner.

I have the honor to state or your information, with regard to the land on the Piako, as follows:—

On the 21st May last the Ngatipaoa and myself reached Maukoro. After three or four days' talk, I commenced work. The Natives, one and all, denied ever having consented to sell the river frontage, which, by the way, is scarcely available till you reach Maukoro, stating also that on several occasions they had made their determination not to part with their eel swamps on the river frontage. I found it would be a mere waste of time to press the matter, so I proceeded with the survey. The piece of land called Tikou, for which money was paid to Takupu, was claimed by Te Matete, who told me that he had already objected to this purchase when in Auckland. Commencing at the northern end of the survey, and following the eastern boundary southwards, the first reserve made by the Natives consists of about forty acres, commencing at Te Paeroa, and ending at Rerepangongo, including a burial ground.

Further on, at Te Ratohua, a reserve was made by Tipa, but subsequently he told me to include it in the survey.

At Pouriri Creek, the reserve by Te Matete and others begins, extending to where the eastern boundary meets the Piako at Te Areiriri, and amounting to three thousand (3,000) acres, of which one-third, perhaps, is available for Native cultivation.

With regard to Webster's purchase, all that I could do amounted to nothing, as I had no names to go by with regard to boundaries, and a long time has elapsed since the purchase, moreover, the Ngatirauhea—who, as vassals of the Ngatipaoa, at the time of the purchase by Webster, did not then dare to say anything—have now, from the decline of the influence of the chiefs, come forward and denied the sale of the frontage from Maukoro to Angapunga (stated to have been purchased by Webster), and declare his eastern boundary to be that laid down in the accompanying plan. I have also shown in this plan what they state to have been his western or back boundary. In consequence of the facts above stated, and from the frontage to the river having been supposed to be twice its actual length, the purchase made by Mr. Webster turns out to be only about 6,000 acres. I have worked up to the Waikato boundary, from Te Pakohae to Te Pahua. There remains at the northern end of the block about 2,000 or more acres, which, if purchased, would work up to the Ngatimaru boundary. This has been offered to me by the Natives, as well as the small reserve made by the Ngatirongo at Te Paeroa, but as yet I have not seen all those concerned in it.

At the Southern extremity there remains from four to five thousand acres (4,000 to 5,000 acres) of desirable land, which, if purchased, would work up to the Waikato and Ngatihaua boundary and extinguish the Ngatipaoa claims on the Piako, with the exception of a small piece South of Te Riu o Hauraki, belonging to Hoera, and which he refused to have included in the survey. The land about the Waikuku and Pouriri Creeks, and from Te Maire to Mangahuna, is excellent; it is also good on the Mangawhara; the fern ranges I found, generally speaking, to be a better description of soil than usual. The fact of old burying grounds being scattered about from Te Pukeiti westwards to Te Weiti Creek has prevented the Natives from selling the four or five thousand (4,000 or 5,000) acres I have already spoken of at present, as any new negotiations, until the bones have been collected and removed, would bring down too many claimants to suit the purpose of the actual owners of the land.

The land offered by Keha near the Kerepehi, and for which he had received money, I deemed advisable to leave alone, on account of strong opposition on the part of Wharerututu (Te Aperahama) and others.

In the Thames, I surveyed the land sold as Hotungaio and Hotukiwi. Two Natives, Tukukino and Wiremu, of the Whakatohea, had been deputed by the Ngatipaoa to mark off the boundaries—as, in point of fact those of the Ngatipaoa, who claimed the land, knew but very little about it beyond having heard one or two of the names.

Hahaupounamu I did not survey, owing to a disputed boundary, and the Natives did not choose to attend to settle the question; the objection was raised by Te Maupu (Taeapa).

The land offered by Te Harapa, and for which he has received money, I left alone till the weather was more favourable. Koupu is hardly worth surveying, unless the land offered me at the back be purchased; though only a very small block of some three or four hundred acres, still it is good land; and, in my opinion, desirable that it should be purchased. I arrived in Auckland about the middle of August last.