E—No. 9 Sec. It

straight. Our present tikanga is not our making, but the Governor's. The Governor has got hold of us with a.rope and we will cling to it. Rawiri: Your letter has reached me and I agree to it. Let us work on the ture, i.e. our work, also the uroha and other good things. I will be a father to you all. Tipene (Ngatinaho): We did not come here to disagree or cause disturbance, but on the understanding which Ratima has expressed. I am a new man in the Governor's work; let me pursue my earnest desire. You have acted wrongly towards me, I mean Waata (alluding to appointing policemen from Punga Punga at Taupari hereafter explained by Waata). I will not conceal this wrongi we have made au agreement with the Pokeno people, they have consented to Te Wheoro being their Magistrate; and we shall not break this agreement. Tapeue (Ngatitipa): The reason why we want to join you is, that Taupari is such a long way off: we belong to the Ngatitipa tribe, but we live close to you in the middle of Waikato, and why should we be sent such a distance off when we can join you here? Ratima: The principal objection I have to your joining us iv this; I have heard that you have appointed Ropati and Paora as policemen, without consulting us. Tapene: It is true they were named at Taupiri, because the root of the tribe from which they spring is there. You are one tribe and we another; and so we appointed our own, but for our own tribe onl}'. Eraihi: I did not come here to cause a division between the two tribes, but to arrange matters. Let us decide the first questiou. Noa: Wheu the Missionaries first came amongst us they taught us that there was one God the Father and Saviour of us all; so let us have one " Atua" the Governor. Let us have one Bishop (meaning one head of the Runanga) to superintend us. Don't let us join the Catholics or Wesley - ans (meaning to avoid division of the two tribes). Eraihi (addressing both tribes): Do you all agree to one Runanga? (Ngatitipa all assented. Ngatinaho did not reply, but it was tacitly understood that as one of their tribe had put the question, such query was a signification of their consent.) W. Te Wheoro: You have all agreed to lay aside differences and join together. I will explain our arrangement with the Governor. He sanctioned two chiefs (ariki) of the Runanga —two kai whakawas, six policemen, and one clerk; the chiefs of the Runanga were to receive £25 each per annum. If you (Ngatitipa) want to select any of these officers from yourselves we will consent; but you were in fault, W'aata. Waata: It is true I was in fault, but I will explain the matter. We appointed our policemen at Taupiri, but left it for Mr Fenton to approve of them or otherwise. When he came we gave him the list, and then he noticed that two were from the Punga Punga; he said that is wrong, Punga Punga is in Te Whcoro's district, and Rawiri and he must arrange about those two. I theu struck out these two names and we selected two others in their place. The members of the Runanga which we had appointed from Punga Punga were also struck out of the Taupari Runauga. Mr. Fenton asked me where Te Wheoro was? I told him he had gone to Auckland. Mr. Fenton asked me who sent him? I replied, the Governor. Mr. Fenton observed there must bo some mistake, as the details of these matters had been left by the Governor to him (Mr. F.) to arrange. Mr. Fenton also said that the Punga Punga aud the Kohe Kohe should be included in one Runanga, as there were very few people at both places, and they lived contiguous to each other: and it would moreover be very hard to send the Ngatitipa people of Punga Punga to such a distance as Taupari (some 20 miles) when there was a Runauga to be held within a mile of their residence. Mr. Fenton himself struck cut Ropati and Paora from my list, and told me when Mr. Armitage and myself went to Punga Punga we were to settle the matter there. I asked him how? He replied in the best w ray we could. I now leave the matter entirely with you to be settled either way. I do not propose any one either as policeman or as head of the Runauga, so you can appoint whom you think fit. But as to Pokeno, you must leave that out of the questiou altogether; another arrangement will be made for that place. Eraihi: The Governor consented that we should appoint two heads (upoko) of the Runanga, two kaiwhakawa and six policemen, and we have done so We will withdraw one of our upoko and you can appoint one in his place for your tribe, we shall retain the other upoko for ourselves. I also propose that we should appoint seven policemen, the same as the Ngatitca,ta. W Taata: I propose that one of your kaiwhakawas should be the upoko of the Runanga, and that the other upoko should be appointed by the Punga Punga people. (A violent thunder storm here occurred whicii flooded the hut and rendered reporting a matter of great difficulty.) One person proposed separate upoko, kiawhakawa, and policemen for each tribe; and much confusion ensued on the discussion of this question. As the only means of reconciling the parties I intimated to Waata that it would be advisable to propose one upoko for each tribe, in accordance with Sir George Grey's promise of two upokos, but that there should only be two kaiwhakawa and six policemen for the joint Runanga. Waata concurred with me that this would be the only mode of terminating the difficulty, and he accordingly made tho proposal to the Runanga. Noa was then proposed as upoko for Ngatitipa. Matiu made a long speech full of figurative expressions, tending to shew that as the Governor had promised Ngatinaho two upoko, he would not object to the appointment of one for each tribe, in fact that his promise could be fully relied on &c, &C Wiremu and Tipene: Both proposed Rawiri as kaiwhakawa and Noa as upoko; the former proposition was merely a compliment to Ngatitipa.

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LOWER WAIKATO.