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hereby proclaim and extend the operation of the fifth part of the said Act, including sections thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight and thirty-nine, and of section fifty-two, of the said Act, to the Province of Otago.

Given under the hand of His Excellency Sir George Grey, Knight Commander of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty’s Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, at the Government House, at Wellington, and issued under the Seal of the said Colony, this tenth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.

J. RICHARDSON,
(For the Colonial Secretary.)

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

G. GREY, Governor.

IN pursuance of the power vested in me by the thirty-ninth section of the "Gold Fields Act, 1866," I, Sir George Grey, Governor of the said Colony, do hereby make the following regulations, prescribing the mode in which applications may be made for leases of land for agricultural purposes, the quantity of land not exceeding fifty acres which shall and may be granted in a lease in any particular block, the amount of deposit to be paid by any applicant therefor, and by any objector thereto, the terms and conditions upon which such leases may be held, occupied, assigned, transferred, forfeited, and cancelled, the amount of rent payable therefor, and the terms and place of payment, the conditions upon and the manner in which entry to search for gold, or for any metal or mineral, upon any land so leased, may be authorised, and the terms and conditions upon which holders of Miners’ Rights may be permitted to mine upon land the lease for which shall have been determined on account of its auriferous character.

I

REGULATIONS.

Mode of Application.

1. Every application for an Agricultural Lease must be made in the form of the first Schedule hereto, or to the like effect, to the Warden of the district wherein the land is situate; and copies of such application must be posted and maintained by the applicant for a period fourteen (14) days, on boards standing not less than three (3) feet above the surface of the ground, and erected, one at each corner of the land so applied for.

Deposit to be Paid by Applicant.

2. Every such application must be accompanied by a deposit of ten pounds (£10), and the Warden shall give the applicant a partly written and partly printed receipt the same in the form in the second Schedule hereto.

Charge on Deposit.

3. Each deposit as aforesaid shall be chargeable with survey fees, to be assessed as hereinafter set forth, and with a fee of one pound (£1) for the preparation of the lease, and with the first half-year’s rent to be charged in all cases, and also with any costs or expenses that may be incurred by any person who shall make a valid objection to the granting of the lease, the amount of which costs and expenses shall be adjudged by the Warden, the balance, if any, of such deposit will be returned after the application has been finally dealt with.

Objectors to make deposit.

4. Any person objecting to the issue of an Agricultural Lease shall within fourteen (14) days from the date of the application give notice thereof, setting forth the grounds of his objection in writing to the Warden, and shall therewith deposit the sum of two pounds (£2) as security for the prosecution of his objection, in satisfaction of any costs and expenses to which the applicant may be put by reason of such objections, if disallowed, and if such objection should not be prosecuted, or should fail, so much of the deposit shall be handed over to the applicant as may be necessary to repay the expenses of such applicant, and the balance (if any) shall be refunded to the person so objecting.

Boundaries must be marked.

5. The boundaries of the land applied for must be marked on the ground by trenches, and substantial posts standing not less than three feet above the surface at each corner thereof.

Areas must be rectangular.

6. Every area of land so applied for must be rectangular in form, unless a creek or river or other natural obstacle renders a deviation from the rectangular form necessary.

Survey.

7. Immediately after the hearing of an application, the Warden (if there be no objection against the granting thereof) shall direct a surveyor to proceed to the land for the purpose of surveying and reporting on the same; and upon receipt of such surveyor’s report, the Warden shall without delay forward the application for the approval of His Honor the Superintendent.

Valid Objections.

8. If any valid or seemingly valid objection is lodged against the granting of an application, or if there should be any cause known to the Warden why such application should not be granted, the Warden shall forthwith forward the application, together with his own report thereon, for the decision of His Honor the Superintendent.

Protection during application.

9. Land for which application shall have been made in the manner aforesaid, shall be protected from the date of such application until the decision of His Honor the Superintendent shall have been made known to the Warden.

Possession where no objection.

10. If, upon the hearing of any application, it shall appear that no objection thereto has been lodged with the Warden, and there shall be no cause known to the Warden why such application should not be granted, the Warden shall upon application therefor issue a certificate of the same to the applicant, and such applicant may thereupon take possession of the land so applied for, and such land shall thereafter be surveyed as nearly as possible in the form in which it has been taken up, and in conformity with the 6th regulation hereinbefore prescribed, but to the extent of fifty (50) acres only.

Exemptions.

11. Agricultural Leases will not, except in special cases, be granted for lands within the boundaries of proclaimed townships or public reserves, nor for any area including a permanent water course, or which may present auriferous indications, and in all cases a public roadway, one chain in width, will be reserved along the margins of navigable streams and rivers.

Non-execution of lease.

12. If any applicant fails or neglects to execute his lease within one (1) month after service of notice from the Warden that such lease is ready for execution, the Superintendent will (unless special cause for delay is shown to him) proceed to cancel such lease, and a fee of £1, in addition to the charges hereinbefore mentioned, shall thereupon be deducted from the deposit.

Cancellation of leases.

13. Leases will be forfeited and may be cancelled if the land is sublet or transferred without the sanction and authority of His Honor the Superintendent; or, if planting, cultivation, or other permanent improvement is not commenced within three months after the issue of a certificate or lease; or if one-third in acreage of the land is not planted, cultivated, or otherwise