WHEREAS in or about the month of January, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, the Native owners of a certain block of land situate near to Castle Point, within the Province of Wellington, and now known as the Whakataki Reserve, did sell and dispose of the same to Her Majesty the Queen for the sum of two hundred pounds on the terms that the said block of land should be reserved from sale by public auction for a certain period of time during which time any of the original Native owner thereof should have the prior right of purchasing back each for himself in fee-simple, and at the fixed price of ten shillings per acre, any portion of the said block: And whereas several of the aforesaid original owners have purchased back certain portions of the said block of land, and it is just and proper that Crown grants for such portions should without any delay be issued to the respective purchasers thereof accordingly:

And whereas in consideration of his loyalty and the good services he continuously rendered to the Government of the colony, His Excellency Sir George Grey, the then Governor of New Zealand, did make a free gift of another portion of the above-mentioned block of land to the Native chief Te Wiremu Te Potangaroa, now deceased, and it is expedient that the said land should be assured to the children and the grandchildren of the above-named chief Te Potangaroa:

And whereas further, upon the twentieth day of September, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, Doctor Isaac Earl Eeatherston, the then Superintendent of the Province of Wellington, did make a promise to the original owners of the aforesaid Whakataki Reserve, that it should be given back to them for their support and maintenance, and it is expedient to give effect to such promise: