I have the honour to report to you, for the information of His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government, that I have been requested by the Hon. J. E. FitzGerald to furnish a report on the present state of the Native reserves in New Zealand, the tenure under which they are held, and the best mode of administering them.

The Native reserves in New Zealand consist, in the settlements of Auckland, Canterbury, and Otago, of blocks of land excepted by the Natives, for their own use and subsistence, within the tracts of land they have ceded to the Crown for colonization, and in general there has been a distinct under-standing that they should not at any time be called upon to alienate any lands so reserved, it being considered essential for their own maintenance and welfare to retain them. Those lands are in general cultivated and occupied by the Natives, and in most instances the reserves are sufficiently extensive to provide for their present and future wants.