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stipulated that, although of larger content, the rent should be no higher than that of the former lots. This condition having been submitted to the Land Committee then sitting, by Captain Meit at that time the Land Officer, was accepted by them. It appeared however afterwards that the Committee had authority to make such agreements, and as no records of the case were to be found in the Surveyor General's office, Sir John Davis in 1845 allowed Mr Webster, in consideration of the peculiar circumstances of the case, the option either of holding these allotments at the usual rates fixed for land of this description, or relinquishing them altogether; and they were in consequence given up by that gentleman in 1846, through his agents Messrs Bell & Co. The accompanying letter from the Colonial Secretary of the 21st April 1846, conveyed Sir John Davis' final consent to the resumption of the land by the Government, and remission of all arrears due thereon.
I have the honour to be,
With the highest respect,
Your Lordships'
Most obedient
humble Servant,
Shahane