Tauranga, 27 December 1870 My dear Sir, From all I can le arn the Prince and party enjoyed themselves thoroughly at the Lakes, and the natives in that locality behaved exceedingly well, bringing the Prince all sorts of presents and food, and without boring him in any way. Capt. Mair tells me that the Rotorua natives were highly pleased with the kind and social manner of the Prince. The King's party dont seem inclined to give up the murderers of poor Todd. Te Kooti is keeping very quiet at present, but I suppose we shall soon hear of him again. Tamai kowha is hehaving very well indeed, and from his position renders the Opotiki road tolerably safe. The speeches of the Arawa to the Prince and Governor at Tauranga, did not strike me as being particularly loyal, but they were a little excited with liquor and which was the cause of the row that followed. I closed the Public House that evening and have them still shut up. Things seem to work very smoothly at the Lands Court. In consequence of a Contractor now supplying rations to Capt. Mair's contingent, I intimated to Lt. Way that his services would be dispensed with on 31 Inst; however, I find that I will have to retain him on pay for a short time longer, as he is now in Hospital at this place, suffering very much from the skin of his legs being literally burnt off during his trip to the lakes with the Prince. It appears that all the party went from Tarawera in shawls and sun was very powerful at the time. Mr. Way had to be carried from the beach to the Hospital. When I was in Auckland Mr. Benjamin Maclean, who lives near St. Johnis College, wished me to mention to you what I knew of his son Alexander, whilst serving under my command in Waikato. I have much pleasure in stating that I found him particularly steady, intelligent, and in fact the most reliable young officer in the 4th Waikato Regiment, and in consequence of this I retained him for many months in command of the isolated Blockhouse, at Moerangi. Everything works smoothly in this District. I remain, my dear Sir, Yours very truly, W. Moule