Wallingford Febr. 4th 1869 My dear McLean Your note by the mail reached me in due course on Tuesday - you had not much news to communicate, nor have I much to write of from here. Many thanks for pushing my brothers affair I hope he may get it as it wd. be of great assistance to him - I see from yours that parties of the enemy are still hanging about the Wairoa and fear much that the not following up the late successes will lead in the end to the work having to be done over again - We hear nothing from the West Coast, little Whitmore has a tough job there - still there is an overwhelming force there and moreover all the best officers in the service are there also and if they cannot smash Mr. Titokewaru it is difficult to see how we are ever to do so. I see the report that the Assembly is to meet in March, it is likely perhaps to be true in that case and with a dissolution impending, a vote against Govt. would be useless, and so these scheming beggars will stick in for some months longer. It seems to me that they devote all their energies to scheming how long they can manage to stick to their offices - The Country hereabouts has profited much by the rain which was very heavy in this neighbourhood, the Creeks were all flooded and several road bridges are gone - still the country has derived great advantage from it and everything is looking beautifully green again - Carter I see was back trying the office work again - from what I heard of him at Napier there is little chanceof his being able to manage it unless he has got better - Always Yours faithfully J.D. Ormond