line but I see a note to that effect. I will undertake to make the connection and correct it. There is very little land worth cultivating on this Block, all the rest is very broken. I have a claim of £259 for survey. The natives have no present means of paying the amount, and I wish a lien on the Block. On the NW and SE it adjoins Government land. I found nearly the whole of the Government pegs and I noticed at the time that there must have been something very wrong with that survey, as I could not make the bearings and distances tally at all. I can confidently say that my survey is correct and does not overlap the Government survey.
The Court decided that the counter claimants had no claim. The two children of Te Aiaroa (Hera Puna and Tiepa) were acknowledged as having rights in the land, and the claimants wished to add the name of Wiremu Ngawhare Te Hinaki. These three plus Maihi Te Hinaki were therefore ordered to be the owners of Kaimarama.5
At the Te Weiti hearing later that week Maaka Puhata's conductor, James Mackay, threatened to seek a rehearing of Kaimarama, but this threat was withdrawn when Hera Puna and Tiepa withdrew their claim to Te Weiti.6
At the end of the Kaimarama hearing, the Court referred the survey plan back to Graham to correct it in accordance with the Inspector of Surveys' requirements, and to show the connection of Kaimarama with the adjoining Ounuora. Graham made the corrections and the plan was approved in March 1871.
Survey
In March 1871 Graham advised that his survey costs for Kaimarama had been paid in full by the Mercury Bay Sawmill Co Ltd, thus resulting in the survey lien against the block being transferred to the company.7 The company advised in 1876 that its lien had been paid.8
Timber Leases to Mercury Bay Sawmill Co Ltd
In November 1872 Hera Puna and Ngakapa Whanaunga (as successor to Tiepa Puna) sold the timber and leased the timber cutting and timber driving rights for 99 years from 10 October 1870. The price paid was £2,50, plus 5/- rent per year "if and when demanded."9 On making inquiries for the Trust Commissioner, Puckey, the Native Agent at Thames, stated that Ngakapa Whanaunga and Hera Puna told him that "the signatures attached to the deed are genuine and that they are perfectly satisfied."10
In April 1873 the other two owners, Maihi Te Hinaki and Wiremu Ngawhare Te Hinaki, entered into a similar lease, this time for a price of £220.11
5Coromandel Minute Book z pages 406–411, and Hauraki Minute Book 6 pages 226–232. Supporting Papers #J2.149–154 and Jl2.6–12.
Order of Court, 5 October 1870. Maori Land Court Hamilton Block Orders file C132. Supporting Papers #K3.2.
6Hauraki Minute Book 6 pages 279–280.
7W Graham, Auckland, to Registrar Native Land Court Auckland, 9 March 1871. Maori Land Court Hamilton Correspondence file C353. Supporting Papers #L2.4.
8Secretary Mercury Bay Sawmill Co Ltd, Auckland, to Native Land Court, 11 October 1876. Maori Land Court Hamilton Correspondence file C353. Supporting Papers #L2.6.
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