Fifthly, that the lands wrongly obtained by the Government be returned to us. That all may be in accordance with the concessions made in the Waitangi Treaty and all other contracts made with your Maori subjects. That the Queen and her Government also appoint some person from England--a person independent of the Government of New Zealand--who shall carefully investigate those wrongs, and if he finds them in accordance with what we have now presented before you, that then he should decide whether the lands of your wronged subjects be returned or a compensation be made for part of it. We, your Maori race, confidently rely on the Treaty of Waitangi, on its provisions and force, and we will be led by those provisions in these matters for which we have now swum the ocean of Kiwa, and we pray in the presence of the Queen that she will confirm her words given in that treaty, that it may not be trampled upon by the Government of New Zealand in anything they may do to annul that treaty. Let the Queen live! Here we conclude. May God preserve you! TAWHIAO, WIREMU TE WHEORO, PATARA TE TUHI, TOPIA TUROA, HORI ROPIHANA. I hereby certify that the above is a true translation of the petition, made by me this 15th day of July 1884. FRED H. SPENCER, Clerk in Holy Orders. _Sir W. F. D. Jervois to the Right Hon. the Earl of Derby_ GOVERNMENT HOUSE, WELLINGTON, _March 28, 1885_. MY LORD--With reference to Your Lordship's Despatch, No. 46, dated the 9th August last, concerning a memorial from Maori chiefs, I have the honour to transmit herewith a copy of a memorandum from my Ministers. I also enclose copies of the Acts of the Colonial Parliament referred to therein. I regret that I have been unable to send Your Lordship an earlier reply. The delay, however, has been caused by the fact that the Native Minister desired to visit the Maori districts before my Government furnished me with a memorandum on the subject. Full reports of the several meetings held by him with the Natives will be forwarded by the next mail. I beg to refer Your Lordship to my Despatch, No. 9, dated the 1st March 1884, in which I have stated my own views with regard to the position of the Native race in this colony.--I have, etc. WM. F. DRUMMOND JERVOIS. The Right Hon. the Earl of Derby. MEMORANDUM FOR HIS EXCELLENCY Ministers present their respectful compliments to the Governor, and beg to inform His Excellency that they have considered the memorial from Maori chiefs referred to in the despatch from Lord Derby, No. 46, of 9th August 1884.