Wairarapa, 22nd September, 1853. My dear Sir George, I send a messenger this evening to Wellington for the thousand pounds notified in your note of the 11th which I expect will be very shortly required for an additional block in this valley. Capt. Smith estimates that the whole of the purchase now concluded amount to 560,000 acres of course a great portion of this is very indifferent land but still it must be a great thing to have such an extent of country thrown open for selection at a first cost to the crown of something less than 3 an acre. The Natives have now disposed of all their extensive districts of waste land beyond Tararua so that every future purchase affected here must include the best parts of the valley and I am endeavouring as far as I can to confine the sales to those parts most available for agriculture and settlement as I know that the rest of the coast line can always be obtained atmoderate prices and the land is not essential for any immediate purpose the great thing is to acquire the whole of this valley and if it is not done now it may hare after be a question of years. I am therefore extremely anxious that two or three additional good blocks should be acquired here so that the question should be finally disposed of before Your Excellency leaves as it is not easy to conjecture what a change of circumstances legislation and govt. may have on these Natives. Manihera is in excellent humour. I told him that I had no doubt Your Excellency would sanction his having a nice cottage built for himself at Papawai out of the proceeds of the 5 per cent and I have been encouraged to suggest this from the additional control which the words suggested by Your Excellency "or other purposes of a like nature in which the Native race are interested" gives to the Govt. for the disposal of this fund. The Grown Grant for Raniera is producing a wonderfully good effect among the other young chiefs who are anxious to have all their titles on the same footing --- this young chief has placed £120 in my hands which in accordance with a wish expressed by Your Excellency I have safely invested for him by lending it to one of the settlers for one year at ten per cent. I have also on hand £300 for another chief to be invested in a similar manner but this is such a large sum that I suppose I must write for instructions before I do anything with it, beyond as I have already done using some of it to conclude the purchase of a homestead as Capt. Smiths until I receive funds from Wellington. I will make the most I can of the present thousand pounds and I think if £2000 more could be supplied that it would almost finish the whole of the first payment for the valley strictly speaking the proportion of first payments for the land situated within what may be termed the valley proper does not exceed £1250. £800 has been expended for Meretas coast land 50 or 60 miles from here and the rest for the Ngatikahungunu claims beyond the valley. I intend to proceed with Capt. Smith across the country to see the boundaries of the last purchase I shall at the same time visit Morrisons as I had not as yet an opportunity of going there to settle his homestead I shall then cross up to Donald and the Kaikokirikiri visiting Northwoods and all the stations with a view of seeing the Natives ascertaining their sentiments and