No. 74.
Extract from Report on Grant of Site for Magistrate's Residence.

Before leaving Auckland I addressed the Native Secretary on the subject of the site offered by the Natives for the residence of the Magistrate, and also regarding the expense of erecting a house thereupon. I have as yet received no written reply thereto, but learned from the minutes of the Government that the piece of land named was considered to be too small for the purpose, and that I was to be instructed to treat with the Natives for an extension of the boundaries.

Finding that during my absence from the district a difficulty had arisen with regard to the first offer, and that prompt measures were necessary in order to secure a fitting site, I at once closed with the offer of the Ngatipiritai Tribe, who by a deed of gift dated the 22nd instant (a copy of which I enclose) ceded to the Crown a valuable piece of land, estimated to contain from one hundred to one hundred and twenty acres. It possesses the advantages of nearness to the sea, easy access to an inexhaustible supply of firewood and fencing, convenient to the Natives, and a fertile soil. The offer was made, and the whole transaction arranged in a manner which is highly commendable. I did not hear a dissentient voice, and, indeed, heard nothing whatever about it until the Natives came to invite me to walk round the boundaries. I have this day taken possession in the name of the Queen, and marked off a portion to be cleared and fenced immediately.