done what he thought best for the public service, and that in not mentioning to me what he intended to do, and in not sending to me any copy of the printed paper, he merely forgot to take such steps from the pressure of other important matters upon his mind; but, as the despatch has been published, and I fear that some of the remarks in it might complicate the ultimate settlement of affairs with the natives of this country, and that one remark in it, I have no doubt unintentionally made, reflects unjustly upon myself, I have enclosed a memorandum, upon a few points in it, which, if your Grace thinks fit to read will, I am sure, satisfy you.

That William King gave a reason for his opposition to Te Teira selling a piece of land at the public meeting at which that chief offered it for sale, and on several occasions subsequently.

That the natives used the language which I appear to your Grace to put into their mouths, in my despatch of the 24th of April, on many previous occasions, and that this language of theirs had been transmitted to your Grace, sometimes almost in terms of humble supplication.

That the natives had been informed, not that they were interfering to prevent a survey to ascertain the ownership of land, but to prevent the survey of the Queen’s own land, which had been acquired for Her Majesty by purchase from Teira, whose title to it had been investigated and found to be good, and was not disputed by any one.

That W. King’s letter to the Governor, of February, 1859, cannot be characterised as an interdict of a rebellious character, but was apparently intended to be a respectful letter.

I have, &c.,
(Signed) G. Grey.

ENCLOSURE TO DESPATCH 139, 26TH OCTOBER, 1863. MEMORANDUM.

In the Secretary of State’s despatch No. 88, of the 25th August, 1863, the following remarks are made in reference to the conduct of a chief named William King.

"In the same way at a public meeting where Teira offered the land, and during the many months which elapsed before the survey, he (William King) gave no reasons for his opposition, he afforded no explanation of it, either such as was provided for him by others at the time, or such as might be drawn from the statements which you have now conveyed to me."

In reference to this point it will be found by an enclosure to Governor Browne’s despatch, No. 10, of 25th July, 1860, that in the official account of the meeting of the 25th March, 1859, it is reported that William King gave a reason for his opposition, to the sale of the piece of land, insisting on his own possession of it. In his letter to the Governor of the 25th April, 1859, this chief again gave the Governor the same reason against the sale of the land, saying — ‘I will not agree to our resting place being sold, for that resting place belongs to the whole of us.’ Again on the 29th November, 1859, this same chief informed Mr. Parris that the reason he would not consent to the sale of the land was, ‘That the land belonged to Taylor together with all of us.’

Although attention was at first specially called to this point in Sir George Grey’s despatch No. 96, of 11th August, 1863, it will be found that the natives in 1860, with almost earnest passion, asserted that William King’s answer was such as it now really proves to have been, and that it had been misinterpreted. Their allegations on this point were, at that time, either not attended to, or not believed. But their statement is that William King answered as follows —

"Yes, his (Teira’s) title is good to his own pieces within the boundaries of that land two or three pieces. Our title is equally good to our own pieces, some have one, or two, or three, or four, within that block. William King stated this, but what he said has been misinterpreted by the Land Commissioner of Taranaki, who asserts that William King said the whole of the land was Teira’s. It was his determination to take the land by force, and his ignorance of the Maori language, which made him pervert what William King said."

The question of a sale of this piece of land involved the interest and conduct of many other persons besides William King, and it will be found in various letters transmitted by Governor Browne that the natives invariably alleged the same reasons for opposing the sale of this piece of land which the land handed down to them by their ancestors and father.