26 THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

J. H. HARRIS, Esquire,
of his office of Judge of the District Court of
Otago.

HENRY SEWELL.

Attorney-General's Office,
Auckland, 13th January, 1862.

HIS Excellency has been pleased to accept
the resignation of
J. H. HARRIS, Esquire,
of his Office of Resident Magistrate.

HENRY SEWELL.

Attorney-General's Office,
Auckland, 13th, January 1862.

HIS Excellency has been pleased to ap-
point
R. CHEETHAM STRODE, Esquire,
Resident Magistrate, to be stationed at
Dunedin.

HENRY SEWELL.

Office of Commissioner of Customs,
Auckland, 13th January, 1862.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been
pleased to appoint
THOMAS WINDLE PARKER, Esquire,
to be Sub-Collector of Customs at the Port of
Oamaru.

READER WOOD.

Office of Commissioner of Customs,
Auckland, 13th January, 1862.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been
pleased to apppoint
MR. DANIEL SHEA LAWLOR
to be Sub-Collector of Customs at the Port of
Riverton.

READER WOOD.

Office of Commissioner of Customs,
Auckland, 13th January, 1862.

THE following Report of the Landing
Surveyor, Wellington, on the Chatham
Islands, is published for general information.

READER G. WOOD.

Wellington,
21st October, 1861.

SIR,—

In compliance with your letter of the 14th
ultimo, No. 30, appointing the your "Deputy
for the purpose of proceeding to the Chatham
Islands, to carry out the instructions of His
Excellency's Government, enclosed therein,"
I have the honour to inform you that I pro-
ceeded thither by the schooner "Esther," which
vessel sailed from here on the 30th ultimo, and
returned again on the 17th inst.

The letter (from the office of the Com-
missioner of Customs, No. 313, of the 14th
of August last) enclosed for my guidance,
directed me " to ascertain the exact position of
Mr. Shand's accounts, and to report generally
on the subject of the Customs Establishment
at the Chatham Islands; also to furnish sta-
tistical information respecting the trade, popula-
tion, and resources of those islands."

In submitting to you my Report, for the
information of the Honourable the Com-

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

missioner of Customs, I shall endeavour to
notice each of the subjects to which my atten-
tion has been directed, in the order in which
they stand in the paragraph quoted above.

Respecting the trade of the Chatham Islands
I have to submit the following information,
which I gathered from various sources, and
believe to be correct.

From the year 1841 to about 1854, four to
six whaling ships generally visited the islands
every year for supplies. During the succeeding
years 1855 to 1857, when potatoes were in
such demand for the Australian market, their
visits became less frequent, and for the last
three years, 1858, 1859, and 1860, they have
principally touched at Pitt's Island, and pro-
cured supplies from the two Europeans, Messrs.
Hunt and Reignault, resident there. In 1860,
the natives, who up to that time had always
resided on the main island, found that vessels
from Australia ceased to arrive for their potatoes,
and that the whaling ships visited the neigh-
bouring island only, so a number of them went
across, and established themselves there also,
so as to be able to obtain a share of the trade.
During that year, I understand, nine whaling
ships called there; but as many of them, I
am told, purchased the supplies they required
for cash, few dutiable articles were landed from
them. However this may be, certain it is,
that on the main island I found (with the ex-
ception of the tobacco, as I said before,) no
evidence of any quantity of dutiable goods
having been landed there for some time. The
European residents had long been without tea,
sugar, and such like articles; and the natives,
I observed, were becoming so badly off for
clothing, that the women were beginning to
make mats again, an occupation that they had
previously abandoned for years.

Potatoes are at present almost the only things
grown, large crops of which are raised year
after year, from the same ground, with very
little labour. It has been almost exclusively
for these that the trade to the islands has
hitherto been carried on. Very little wheat or
grain of any kind has been raised since the
potatoes first began to realize such high prices.
One year the Maories were paid as much
as six pounds (£6) a ton for them by
the traders from Australia. In 1854, about
2000 tons were shipped for Sydney and Mel-
bourne, in the purchase of which it is estimated
that the traders spent about five thousand pounds
(£5000) in cash, and as much more in goods.
Altogether, from 1854 to 1856 inclusive, about
seven thousand (7000) tons were exported, and
it was during that time that so many vessels
visited the islands, and that a considerable
trade was carried on. At present there is
scarcely any sign among the natives of the pros-
perity they attained to in those years, beyond
the number of horses which they possess, as
most of the money they received for their
produce was soon most foolishly dissipated.
In 1859, the whole potato crop, about two
thousand (2000) tons, rotted in the ground for
want of purchasers. In 1860, five vessels