20. Every mining lease and every instrument by or under which the rights or any portion thereof granted by such lease shall be transferred or assigned shall be registered as an instrument affecting land under the provisions of the law for the time being in force with regard to the registration of such instruments. [Sidenote: Penalty for mining without a lease.] 21. Any person digging for, mining, or working any mineral without a mining lease shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable upon conviction thereof to a penalty not exceeding £500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months. [Sidenote: Use of water.] 22. The lessee of a mining lease shall be entitled to the use of all water within the area of his lease, but he shall not, without the consent in writing of the Government Inspector of Mines, treat any river or other flowing water or stream in such a manner as to prevent its return to its natural channel before it leaves the said area. [Sidenote: Proviso as to existing rights.] Provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to affect or prejudice the existing rights of any person to the reasonable use of the water flowing in a natural bed or channel through, or along the margin of, land occupied by him, or naturally deposited within such land. [Sidenote: Penalty for improper use of water.] 23. Any person diverting any river, flowing water, or stream without consent as aforesaid, or diverting water in such a manner as to render it unavailable for use by another person legally entitled to the use thereof, shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding £25, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months. [Sidenote: Provisions as to surface rights.] 24.—(1) A mining lease shall not of itself confer any rights in or over the surface of the area included in the lease, but if the lessee shall apply to the Governor for a right of occupancy over the whole or any portion of the area included in his lease, and shall show to the satisfaction of the Governor that the exclusive use and enjoyment of the said area or portion thereof is necessary to the full and effective exercise of the rights conferred by the lease, the Governor shall grant a right of occupancy over such area or portion thereof, subject to the provisions of the law for the time being in force with regard to such rights, and to such reservations as he shall think fit to make in respect of any railway, tramway, public road, building, burial-ground, or land appropriated to any public purpose, or land in the legal occupation of any other person. (2) A right of occupancy granted as aforesaid shall run concurrently with the mining lease, and shall be renewable on application with each renewal of the mining lease, and no rent shall be payable thereunder over and above the rent payable under the mining lease; but compensation shall be payable in respect of any disturbance of native rights.