Wallingford May 28th/63 My dear McLean, I have written you at considerable length last night and hoped to have had the mail today and a chance of hearing from you as well as sending to you. No mailman has however been heard of - Tonight a man has come down from his Lordship post haste from the Wellington overland mail for Russell's letter to me. I fear the inland people are working themselves into a panic which is very spreading and may at this time be I think very mischievous. I write to night to propose to you to come up for a day as soon as you can and to meet a few of the principal settlers at Waipukerau to talk over our position and to receive their opinions. I wd. suggest that if you can come and approve the idea, that - Gollon, S. Curling, Lambert, G. Cooper, Russell, Canning and myself shd. be asked to meet you privately, at, say Russell's house. I think such a meeting would have a very good effect in some of those I name, would cause confidence and it would also I shd. think be pleasant to yourself to learn the opinions of the leading people of the district. If you think you can come write a line to G. Cooper telling him the day and to send Messengers with a note of notice to those you wd. like to meet. I am quite sure that what I propose to you wd. do good. From H. Russell's letter to me he is in a thorough panic fright and he speaks of others as sharing his feelings - Apart from such a meeting I should very much like myself to talk with you. I have written a great deal of advice in my other letters. Should you think well of the proposal to take the responsibility and enrol a corps of mounted Police. Otago wd. be the place to get them from - there wd. be no difficulty at this season of the year and I shd. think the Otago Govt. wd. detach or lend some of their trained force to be a start for such a force if you applied for them. We must have some body in the inland district capable of keeping open communication and to form a rallying point in case of danger we cannot possibly escape the onus of making provision for this and I see no other way to effect it than that I propose. Have you the authority to enrol the "Defence Corps" if you have, all the responsibility we as a Govt. have to take is, to provide the additional funds that are required to get the kind of force that wd. be useful to us. Pray if you can come inland to talk over these matters before the Mail Steamer goes South do so. I am very glad from his Lordship letter to see that you are reported as being of opinion "that we may yet hope to tide through the crisis the Colony is now in". you and I think alike on this whilst we must both also admit that it is possible we may be disappointed. His Lordship pictures our homes in the hands of the ruthless savages in fact I am very glad I am out of the neighborhood of his enervating dolefulness. I think Karaitiana's return is looked for anxiously by the Natives it wd. be well for you to see him as soon after his return as you can. Yours always, J. D. Ormond