No. 77.
Memorandum on the Purchase of the Waiuku Block, Manukau.

In purchasing the Waiuku Block, which had been under negotiation for upwards of six years, and which was claimed conjointly by the Ngatiteata and Ngatitipa Tribes, neither of those tribes admitting the right of the other to sell, it was found necessary to deal separately with each tribe, and accordingly £1,500 was paid to Ngatitipa to satisfy their claims to the block. Neither Aihepene nor any of the Ngatiteata Natives signed this deed or received any portion of the money, as they were only entitled to their own share, which was set apart and paid to them in two instalments of £500 and £600, to the first of which Aihepene's name is attached. The boundaries cited in this deed describe the whole of the Waiuku purchase. In that part of the block, for which £1,500 was paid to the Ngatitipa, is a Native reserve called Akaaka, 445 acres, which Aihepene now claims. It will be found that this claim will not be recognized by Waata Kukutai and his people.

Titi was a Native reserve in the Waiuku, for which £20 was paid to Katipa and Wetere te Kauae in August, 1855, and £130 was paid to Katipa and a number of his people as a final surrender of this land in 1856. The deed expresses that no more money shall be paid for Titi, as the parties signing the deed are the only claimants.

In 1848 Aihepene received £50 for Te Puni, which he acknowledges to be a final payment for this land, which has been purchased several times over (see Mr. White's report on Waata Kukutai's claim to Te Puni). It is probable the payment of £50 to Ratapatiti has induced Aihepene to set forward his claim to the lands referred to by him, which has been seen by the Chief Commissioner, who says he cannot maintain any claim whatever to the land in question.

Mr. White will probably explain the circumstances connected with Wharenga, to whom the papers should be referred when he returns from the South.