of the Cargills. They have invited him to make their house his home when he visits Dunedin and the Capt. Has been trying to learn a family relationship, his mother's name having been Shand. Miss Cargill he describes as a very plain spoken & independent young lady and very stout. Withal this is all the gossip for the present. I am sorry the weather has been using you so badly at Port Nic. Now I must say for the climate that one week & a odd day as been of your harsh disagreeable weather is all that we have had and that with the exception of a fall of snow similar to that we experienced in Wellington last winter. The remainder has been like your October but without its winds. Now as touching my new residence know that I am once more in solitary confinement in the bush. The house & its situation are pleasant enough.