No. 58.
The Chief Commissoner to Mr. Commissioner Searancke.

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th ultimo, relative to three blocks or parcels of land of sixty, one hundred, and two hundred acres respectively, which the Natives of Manawatu are desirous of conveying to the half-caste children of T.U. Cook, Esq., who is at present in occupation of those lands. I have brought this subject under the consideration of. His Excellency's Government, who are of opinion that the transaction is fair and desirable; but, at present, a legal difficulty exists as to the issue of a Crown grant for those lands. The Hon. The Attorney-General is of opinion that the 13th section of the Lands Claims Settlement Extension. Act will meet the requirements of the case. No grant, however, can be issued until the Act has received the assent of Her Majesty.

Under these circumstances, and pending further consideration and action, it will be advisable to have the land surveyed, if, as I suppose, it is entirely free from any counter-claim by any other European, with a view to its being made over to the Crown for the purposes intended by the Natives. The survey should, of course, be conducted under your instructions, the expense being borne by Mr. Cook himself.