Te Moananui Wharenui continued to comment on the hapu’s disapproval of Gill’s purchase of the reserve, and, in doing so, also hinted that economic factors had contributed to the sale, not only of this reserve, but others as well:

We have been repeatedly warned by Mr Gill and other Europeans to leave this land[.] [A]s soon as Ngatimura heard of this sale of this land to Mr Gill they immediately occupied it, it has been occupied 7 years by Ngatimura. After the money of the large block was spent Te Moananui commenced to sell reserves.²⁰

Ani Ngarae also spoke about the will that her mother had allegedly left. Ani Ngarae said that Daniel Farrow delivered the will into the ‘hands of Mr Clarke and Mr Gill’.²¹ These two officials therefore seemingly knew that one of the two trustees of the reserves at Rereatukahia had died and that there was a need to appoint successors to Ngarae’s interests. Although Henry Skeet initially bought Lot 12 from Te Moananui, Gill’s purchase of it from Skeet occurred so soon after it that the two transactions were registered on the same day. Thus, even though technically Gill did not purchase the reserve directly from Te Moananui, the timing of the second transaction, combined with Gill’s knowledge of the will and local politics, places the transactions under suspicion.

Hohepa Te Winika, again, a member of ‘Ngati Mura’ and residing at Matakana, corroborated the statements of Ani and Te Moananui Wharenui. This witness said that the land:

solely belonged to Narai – she [Ngapiri] claims it had been set apart for herself and her children and others – Because the Government at the time was buying up a large portion of the Tauranga lands[,] in consequence of [sic] she applied to have this land set apart – This is only a small portion of our ancestral lands set apart for the same purposes – the larger portion of our lands was sold to the Government – this land was fraudulently sold by Te Moananui because the land belonged to Narai – Te Moananui and his sister announced their intention to a large meeting saying they intended to apply to cause lands to be set apart for themselves and others – this is the wish of Ngatimura that their lands should be returned to us on the grounds that this was a wrong doing.²²

Hohepa Te Winika subsequently appeared as a witness. He lived at Matakana, and stated that he had ‘Ngati Mura’ affiliations. Hohepa Te Winika endorsed Te Moananui Wharenui and his niece’s statements, because the land, that is the 200

²⁰ Te Moananui Wharenui, 16 August 1878, TMB 1, p. 32.

²¹ Ani Ngarae, 16 August 1878, TMB 1, p. 33.

²² Hohepa Te Winika, 16 August 1878, TMB 1, pp. 33-4.