150 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chai-. VI: 
At the same time that Captain Wakefield's mime 
had been included in the commission of the peace. 
Captain Liardet had also been made a magistrate ; and 
Dr. Evans had been reinstated in the same office. Two 
other gentlemen figured in the list, whose fitness for 
the situation was at least aprocryphal. One was Mr. 
Thomas McDonnell, who had not scrupled to crimp 
labourers for Hokianga, on arriving here in one of 
the emigrant-ships from England. He was reputed, 
moreover, to have deceived the Company as to the 
lands which he had sold them in England ; his whole 
property in New Zealand being mortgaged to' a house 
in Sydney, who had for many years supplied him with 
goods for carying on the timber-trade at Hokianga. 
The appointment of JMr. Robert Tod as a Justice of 
Peace was no great matter of surprise, as that indi- 
vidual had been one of the earliest enemies to the Port 
Nicholson settlers, and had moreover gone up to 
Auckland in order to be a purchaser at the Govern- 
ment land-sales. 
The claims to land already advertised for investiga- 
tion amounted to at least 40,000,000 acres, exclusive 
of the Company's territory. Considering that there 
are only 78,000,000 acres in the whole of the three 
islands, the private land-sharks appear to have been 
disposed to help themselves pretty liberally, had no 
regular system interfered to check their proceedings. 
Lieutenant Shortland's estimate of proposed expen- 
diture for the year 1841 told a curious tale at this 
time. It amounted to nearly 51,000/. Reckoning the 
number of Europeans then in the colony at about 
5000, this was government at the rate of 10/. per head 
per annum for every man, woman, and child. For the 
share devoted to the aborigines' department was little 
more than 2000/. ; and this in salaries to Protectors, 
