The following extract from _The New Zealand Advertiser and Bay of Islands Gazette_ of September 24th, 1840, sets forth in detail the ceremony attending the establishment of the city:--"The barque _Anna Watson_, having on board several officers of the Government, mechanics, labourers, etc., anchored in the Harbour of Waitemata on Tuesday, the 15th instant, and the site for the intended Settlement on its shores having been selected by the Surveyor-General, on Friday, the 18th September, at 1 p.m., the ceremony of taking formal possession in the name of Her Majesty was duly performed. The whole party having landed, the British Flag was hoisted on a staff, erected on a bold promontory commanding a view of the entire harbour. The Flag was immediately saluted by twenty-one guns from the _Anna Watson_, followed by a salute of fifteen guns from the barque _Platina_, after which Her Majesty's health was drunk at the foot of the flagstaff, and greeted by three times three hearty cheers. The _Anna Watson_ then fired a salute of seven guns in honour of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, which was responded to by three hearty cheers, and 'one cheer more' from those on shore. The party then returned to the _Anna Watson_, and, after partaking of luncheon, a regatta took place between a five-oared gig belonging to the Surveyor-General and a six-oared gig belonging to the _Anna Watson_, both pulled in excellent style by amateurs. This was followed by a match for a purse of five pounds between two whale-boats pulled by sailors, and by another between two large canoes paddled by Natives. And thus concluded the ceremony of founding the first British Settlement established under the auspices of the Government in this part of New Zealand; a ceremony the more interesting, as this settlement is intended for the future Capital of what we may venture to predict will one day become a mighty empire. The Officers of the Government present on the occasion consisted of the [7]Police Magistrate, the [8] Colonial Surgeon, the [9]Harbour-master, the [10]Superintendent of Works, the [11]Sub-Protector of Aborigines, and the [12]Surveyor-General and his lady." [Illustration: Facsimile of the original Deed of Purchase of the site of the City of Auckland] TRANSLATION