PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TITLC.O. 885
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC. COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
1 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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REPORTS EXHIBITING THE PAST AND PRESENT
NEW ZEALAND. strength, and with very great regret I found myself compelled to disappoint the expectations which had been raised, and by telling the Whanganui natives that I could not then give them any employment, prevent their intended journey.
showing number of latives who emigrated from Waikanae tu
5. Another instance of the good results of employing natives in the con- struction of roads, and remarkable as exhibiting steady self-denial, persevering industry, and combined effort, on the part of a considerable body of natives to effect a desired object, deserves to be recorded. At the village of Otaki, distant 50 miles from Wellington, a small portion of the Ngatiraakana tribe are Roman Catholics. These natives had long contemplated the erection of a water-mill, and had partly commenced the undertaking, when they found their funds insufficient to complete it. Despairing, from the smallness of their number, of raising the necessary amount by individual instalments or contri- butions, they came in a body of about 70 to the Government, and requested to be employed upon the public roads for three months without drawing any portion of their pay until the expiration of the whole period, in order that they might then have the means of carrying out the undertaking in which they were so much interested. During the whole of the three months they worked steadily and well, supporting themselves from their own resources, and at the close of their agreement paying over the greater portion of their earnings to. the party employed by them in the arrangements connected with their mill.
Independently of the pleasing and interesting light in which the native character is placed by the above occurrence, I think no stronger or more grati fying proof could possibly have been given of the absolute confidence reposed in the honour of the Government, and in its meeting its engagements with cer- tainty and punctuality.
6. Other symptoms of improvement are to be observed in the increasing cultivations of the natives in their acquisition of horses and cattle, and in their desire to have villages laid out for them instead of their pahs.
During the early part of the present year I made a hurried visit up the coast to Whanganui, examining a good deal of the intervening country, more espe- cially on the Rangitiki and Manawatu rivers; and I was much gratified at the great extent of fine open country which I met with, and much of which is of a highly fertile and valuable character. At the Manawatu I found numerons native cultivations of wheat, then just ripening, as fine as any I have ever seen in any part of the world. I was informed also, on good authority, whilst in this neighbourhood, that the natives of the Manawatu had sold six hundred pounds' (600%) worth of wheat during the previous twelve months, and that the quantity of wheat then growing was much greater than it had been the previous year.
In going up the Whanganui river for about 50 miles, I was also much pleased to find the wheat cultivations very extensive, frequently embracing both sides of the river, where the ground was favourable, and extending in long narrow strips along the banks, the precipitous nature of the country almutting upon the river confining the available land to these narrow belts. The natives were everywhere exceedingly friendly and well disposed, and seemed most anxious to cultivate closer relations with Europeans.
Many of the natives are now beginning to acquire cattle, and they have long possessed a number of horses. At the emigration of a portion of the Ngatiawa tribe from Waikanae, in April, 1848, I believe the emigrating party took away about 40 horses, and there were still others left with the portion of the tribe which remained. Thinking your Excellency might like to have a return Returf Mr. McLean, showing the number and sexes of the emigrants, I enclose a copy of a list care-
fully taken by Mr. M'Lean, when they were on the line of route to Turancke.
At Otaki the natives are still making rapid progress in civilization, and the Turark, April 1519. settlement is assuming the appearance of a neat European village. Many new houses of a superior kind have been built during the last 18 months; a magni- ficent church has been erected, and, though not quite complete, is in a state which is usable; in fact, I have myself attended service there, when I think there could have been little short of 900 natives within its walls. More atten tion has been paid to neatness than was formerly the case; and most of the fences are not only substantially put up, but are cut evenly at the top, and present a very neat and pleasing appearance. The gardens are also more
11
STATE OF HER MAJESTY'S COLONIAL POSSESSIONS.
attended to; and the use of milk, butter, tea, &c., more appreciated in the NEW ZEALAND), domestic arrangements.
7. The example of the Otaki natives has been a great stimulus to other tribes, who are not a little envious of the comfort enjoyed by them, and of the reputa- tion which their superior civilization obtains for them among Europeans, and which is strongly evidenced by the visits of nearly all the better class of visitors to the province to that favoured settlement.
The result of this feeling creates a strong desire to follow the example of the Otaki natives, and to form villages in other localities; and numerous appli- cations are made to the Government to send surveyors for the purpose. disposition which I endeavour to encourage as much as possible by complying with the request, when practicable, or likely to lead to beneficial results.
During the last 18 months such villages have been laid out at Whanganui (or the Patiki side), at Manawatu, at Waikanae, at Wainui, and at Molucha in the middle island. Instructions have also been given to lay out a village at Porirua, and to lay out the Te Aro Pah, in the town of Wellington, in a manner which, whilst suitable for building purposes, may be more conducive to the health and comfort of the natives than it is in its present wretched state.
I transmit translations of the applications made with reference to these two From chiefs of latter places, the one from the principal chiefs of the Ngatitoa tribe, and the Takapuabia. May other from the Te Aro chief, Henri Parai.
8. Other indications of the advancement of the native race, and of their growing confidence in the value of civilized institutions, are to be found in their frequent applications to the resident magistrates' courts whenever they consider themselves aggrieved, whether by Europeans or by other natives, and in the readiness with which they submit to and abide by its decisions. In these courts during the last 18 months several cases of grave import between native and native have been adjudicated upon, which would formerly have involved the life of the offender, and might have led to a general disturbance; some of these (cases of seduction) I had the honour of bringing more particularly under your Excellency's notice in my Despatches, No, 85, 26 July, 1848, and No. 101, 17 October, 1848.
1949; 11. Parai, Te Aru, May 4, 1849.
Ditte, May 3, 1819.
I now transmit a copy of an interesting report from the resident magistrate of Mr. St. Hilo tule Wellington on the general working of the resident magistrates' courts, and I See Apt 26, 1819 fully coincide in the opinion expressed by that officer, that the inexpensive and Extract from Report of expeditious redress afforded tends greatly to strengthen the amicable relations Maje Richm between the two races.
Jan, 20, 1519. Ditto, Major Wyatt, Jan. 3, 1419,
I also forward a copy of a letter from the resident magistrate at Wellington, Ditto, Majer nie, in reference to the execution of the native Mororo for murder, and the impres- Jan. 25, 1819. sion which that event seems to have made on the minds of the natives generally. Three extracts also from reports of other resident magistrates are herewith attached, and tend to show the generally tranquil state of the province and the existence of a mutual good feeling between the two races.
9. During the last 18 months several important and difficult land questions have been happily adjusted, and very extensive and valuable districts been acquired for the purposes of settlement.
The questions thus successfully settled are, first, the long pending and embar- rassing one at Whanganui, the particulars of which were given in my Despatch, No. 6-1, 5th June, 1848, and No. 87, 1st August, 18-48. Secondly, that of the Middle Island, reported in my Despatches, No. 19, 10th March, 1849, and No. 24, 20th March, 1849. Thirdly, ikat of Rangitiki, as stated in my Despatch, No. 144, 3rd May, 1849, and No. 58, 2nd June, 1849. Some arrangements have also been made as detailed in my Despatch, No. 36, 18th April, 1848, by which the claims of natives resident at Wellington and other parts of New Munster to land at Taranaki, in the province of New Ulster, have been satisfied and set at rest. The land-locked Bay of Waitohi, in the Middle Island, has also been acquired as a port for the Warran, under your Excellency's more immediate and personal superintendence. In addition to the above, negotiations have been opened for the acquisition of the Wairarapa country, but were temporarily suspended for the reason stated in my Despatch, No. 18, 8th March.
Mr. McLean is now engaged in endeavouring to adjust the Manawatu question, and it is my intention to dispatch Mr. Mantell to the Ahuriri and Hawke's Bay country, as soon as he returns from a mission to Bank's Peninsula, having reference to arrangements required on behalf of the Canterbury settlement, and
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