Wallingford Decr. 19th 1866 My dear McLean, I have no letter from you by the mail and consequently nothing to reply to. I expected to have heard by todays mail when the Ruramu case wd. come on before the N.Court - but have recd. no information about it. I intend to try and be down to see after it when it does come on, so we shall meet and have a chat then. If you should hear anything of this Ruramu case you wd. very much oblige me if you could give a help by smoothing down Tareha, who always has hitherto been the difficulty - The line I shd. like taken with him wd. be to enlist him in the desire to get the title settle, no matter for who, and with his name in the Crown Grant I shd. think he wd. be satisfied and that I know the other side agree to - Give me a lift in this matter if you can - I have no news to give you much - Last week I was engaged with Mr. Townsend in instituting an enquiry into the Cooper and Miss Fannin scandal - I went into the enquiry, pitying Mrs. Cooper very much, believing in Cooper's guilt and determined to do justice - and I must say that I now conscientiously believe that Cooper never had anything to do with the girl and that the young men who have been the authors of the report deserve severe punishment if it cd. be given them. Dr. English held a medical examination on the girl 2 months after Cooper's reported criminal intercourse with her and he swears as a professional man that she was a maid when he examined her and has given a certificate for use in the court of law if necessary that such was the case - The three young men who are the founders of this scandal are Messrs. Gaisford, Langtry and Hudson. Of these Gaisford states the girl told him Cooper had had her which he then tells everyone else - and the other two blackguards boast that they have had the girl themselves - My opinion is that the word of such men is not of the value of a straw - and in this Townsend agreed with me - I am very busy with my harvest - it has all come in at once and the caterpillar is giving me great trouble to save anything. Really this country is a queer farmers country - here I have crops that average 50 to 60 bushels to the acre, splendid they are, and these cursed caterpillars are raceing me to see whether they shall eat them or I save them first. They eat about an acre of oats a night so that there is some less - But on the whole I shall save 9/10th of my oats and Wheat. Please remember me to Rhodes and tell him I am sorry to hear he has lost so much by the caterpillar. Dont forget Tareha and the Raramu. Yours always, J.D. Ormond Please send on this to Mr. Townsend for me - it is the notes of our enquiry. J.D.O.