No. 54.
The Chief Commissioner to the District Land Purchase Commissioners.

I have the honor to request that you will forward to this office at your earliest possible convenience a complete return and concise report of all transactions in which you have been engaged since the 30th June, 1856; what sums you have paid on account of old liabilities; what new liabilities page 167you have incurred during the same period; the ascertained or estimated acreage of all blocks, not only of those actually purchased, but also of those concerning which negotiations have been entered into. In short, the return should be, as far as possible, complete enough to enable this office (taking it in conduction with those of the other District Commissioners) to supply the General Assembly with full and accurate information concerning all transactions with the Natives in any part of the country. It is necessary to have the return so compiled as to give a topographical idea of the lands acquired in your districts.