grounds being reserved for the Māori. Langlois considered that he had purchased but the total area is nearer . At the time of the execution of the deed, Captain Cécille subsequently and enthusiastically hoisted the French flag on shore and issued a declaration of French sovereignty over Banks Peninsula. At the end of the 1838 whaling season Langlois left New Zealand waters, and on arriving in France some time after June 1839, set to work to market the property which he had bought from the Māori. He succeeded in interesting the marquis de las Marismas Aguado, a financier who had considerable influence with the Government. The Marquis set out to enlist support in Bordeaux for the formation of a company to exploit the property represented by Langlois's deed: the purpose of that settlement would be to establish on Banks Peninsula a settlement to serve as a base for French whaleships and other vessels in the Pacific Ocean. The difficulties of this first stage of the negotiations, in which rather too much dependency was placed on government action and aid, caused the Marquis to withdraw from the project. On 13 October, Langlois also approached Admiral Duperré and Marshall Soult (President of the Council), stating that he had promises of support from Le Havre and that he would be able to make an offer acceptable to the Government. Almost at the same time, another influential financier, the Ducs Decazes, informed that the Bordeaux group was prepared to support the project. Finally the members of the Bordeaux group, joined with others from Nantes reached an agreement with Langlois, and on 8 November 1839, La Compagnie de Bordeaux et de nantes pour la Colonisation de l’Île du Sud de la Nouvelle Zélande et ses Dépendances presented its petition to the Government. The company had a capital of one million francs. Langlois received one-fifth interest in the company in return for transferring to it all rights deriving from his deed of purchase. The proposals were then examined by a commission of the Ministry of Marine, comprising Captains Petit-Thouars, J-B Cécille, and Roy, all of whom had special experience of the Pacific and of the supervision of French whaling interests. A draft agreement was worked out by the commissioners and the company's representatives which was approved on 11 December by the King, and by Marshall Soult, Admiral Duperré, and the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. Port