Wanganui May 2, 1860 My dear Mr. Maclean, The information conveyed in your last as well as in one from the native Secy. Office has given me great pleasure. The project of summoning the native chiefs to a council at Auckland is a very judicious step and cannot fail being productive of permanent good, besides carrying out Her Majesty's expressed views, and I shall feel it both a pleasure and a duty to do what ever I can to accomplish the Govr's wishes, I have already mentioned the subject to my tamarekes here and I think they will be all ready to go but they express a wish for me to accompany them and I shall have no objection provided I can have a passage given me. I will endeavour to see Mamaku and those at a distance as soon as I have done so I will write again on the 24th Apr I attended a meeting of the Ngatiapa's at Rangitikei many of the interior chiefs and Manawatu's were there, and amongst them Taratoa. The chief object was to define their respective boundaries and discuss the king movement. Kawana Hunia opened the meeting with saying that we ministers came preaching the gospel and bidding them give up war and live peaceably but we never said anything about Governors or settlers following in our wake. I think I fully answered him and made what he said appear ridiculous as a general smile was raised. He is quite a kings man and under the finger and thumb of Nepia Taratoa who next spoke and charged the Govr. with trampling on the very laws he himself had made for instead of bringing the care of Teira before the natives assessors he at once takes the law in his own hands and wages war with W. K. he then said we had secured all the harbours and planted towns there with regards to the first charge I reminded them how careful you had been in all land purchases to ascertain each ones rights before you concluded them and therefore I felt sure you had done so in this instance and had called in native advice and therefore you must be right and the way W K had treated the Govr. had caused all that has since taken place. With regard to our harbours and towns they were all placed on land fairly purchased and surely we had as much right to build towns as they had to make pas besides ours were not half so fortified as theirs were and that in the present time and indeed long before the affair at Waitara the European had the greater cause for fear, from their spending all their money and means in procuring large quantities of guns and ammunition. Taratoa is deceitful and may be regarded as a chief Kings man. Mohi I thing will give up the money but he must not be forgotten. He has been greatly injured. I also learned another source of complaint about some guns you promised and which were sent Scott sold them on his own acct. and then offered some very inferior ones for which he demanded 9£ each, this must be looked into. The Otaki natives are reported to have had a meeting on W Tako's arrival to proclaim the King Mr. Hadfield told them if they did he shd. leave they bid him do so. Thompson said he would cut the flag down they replied if he did they would shoot him he bid them do so. W. Tako is a very dangerous fellow when he passed through Wanganui he told marvellous tales of Waireka that we concealed our losses he saw 7 drays filled with dead soldiers who were buried privately without any service, and to prove this he said the Ngatiruanui had taken near 20 guns from the dead. The calling out the militia the forming volunteer corps is causing much fear amongst our own natives and as Cecil is one much has been said to me on the subject I have recommended Major Durie to summon half a dozen of our Putiki young men also to join the cavalry which will be highly politic and not incur any danger for they live more with Europeans than with the natives. I am my dr. Mr. Maclean, Yours very truly, Richd. Taylor