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In the foregoing distribution I was assisted at the request of the natives by Hori Kingi the chief and assessor at Putiki.

After receiving their money, the tribes quietly dispersed to their residences and encampments, evincing perfect satisfaction with the compensation they received.

The arrangements concluded with the natives for their land are in accordance with those proposed by Mr. Symonds in one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, and to which I have been instructed by his Excellency to adhere;—with the exception, however, that the natives have been induced to give up, in addition to lands alluded to in my letter to his Excellency of the 12th of May, two portions of land on the banks of the Wanganui river, vizt., at “Tutieka” and “Mata-onga-onga,” which lands are coloured grey on the map herewith forwarded, also the lands coloured grey formerly demanded by the natives from Mr. Symonds, which so materially interfered with the surveyed sections allotted to Europeans by the New Zealand Company.

The boundaries of this purchase as intended by Mr. Symonds and shown in the accompanying map, contain, including native reserves, eighty-six thousand two hundred acres;—these reserves are coloured yellow on the map, and may be estimated at five thousand four hundred and fifty acres, an amount of land considerably less than the natives would be entitled to under the arrangements of the New Zealand Company; on the other hand I would remark that a valuable block of land at the Putiki pa near the mouth of the river, and in other favourite localities, have been chosen by the natives, which under the original arrangements, and Mr. Spain’s award, would not be confirmed to them;—I would consequently submit to His Excellency that the advantages to the natives of their present selections may be held as an equivalent for the decrease in amount.

The native reserves as recognised by Mr. Spain, that is, such of them as are not included in the present reserves, are given up by the natives, as specified in the deed of sale, and are coloured red on the map.

By an official return furnished by Mr. Sheppard, one of the New Zealand Company’s surveyors, to the Police Magistrate at Wanganui, a copy of which is hereinafter inserted, it will be perceived that the Company’s plan of the district, signed by Mr. Commissioner Spain, is estimated to contain eighty-nine thousand six hundred acres, whereas the award made by that gentleman in favour of the New Zealand Company is only for the surveyed part of forty thousand acres. It is not improbable that this difference arose from the marginal line of the map being considered the boundary.

[MR. SHEPPARD’S RETURN.]

District of Wanganui—14 miles coast by 10 miles inland comprises 89,600 acres.

Before I left Wanganui for Taranaki, repeated offers were made by the natives to dispose of large tracts of land, extending from the south and north boundaries of the Company’s block.

A desire was also generally evinced by the tribes for the settlement of more Europeans among them, as a means of securing the peace and prosperity of their country.

While engaged at Wanganui, I have great pleasure in acknowledging the assistance I received from the Reverend R. Taylor, Captain Young of the 65th Regiment, Lieutenant Balneavis of the 58th, Mr. Wood of the Commissariat, Mr. Alfred Wills, deputed by Colonel Wakefield to conduct the survey of the district, and indeed from all the respectable settlers and inhabitants of Wanganui.

In conclusion I may be permitted to add, that it affords me much satisfaction to have succeeded in bringing to a final close, in conformity with his Excellency’s instructions, a question involving the rights and intricacies of claims of so many different and differently disposed tribes.

I have the honour to remain,

Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

DONALD McLEAN,
Inspector of Police.

The Hon.
The Colonial Secretary,
&c., &c., &c.