E.—No. 7a

The passage alluded to is as follows : —" The same day the troops marched from town, which was left to be protected by the Militia and Volunteers, hostile Natives came down to its vicinity, and the Colonial Secretary recommended that the troops should be recalled to the town." This implies that the expedition, whatever it was intended for, was abandoned on the recommendation of the Colonial Secretary. The Colonial Secretary read this statement with the greatest surprise. Injustice to himself he feels bound to state, with great deference to his Excellency, that he never recommended, nor thought of recommending, :i that the troops should be recalled to town." The only conversation the Colonial Secretary had with his Excellency was late in the evening of the day alluded to. He then learned from his Excellency that a telegraphic message had some hours before been received to the effect that the Natives who had been collected near Tukitukipapa (south of Tataraimaka). had disappeared from that locality. That his Excellency had already sent a mounted orderly to General Cameron with the news of the appearance of the Natives in the vicinity of the town, and had received a reply from the General, intimating that he would be in town early the following morning. The Colonial Secretary then expressed an opinion that it would be prudent to have a small number of troops (from 50 to 100) in the town, as a support to the Militia and Volunteers, in the case of the Natives being or coming in any force towards the North, and molesting the town while the troops were moving to the South. In this opinion his Excellency appeared entirely to concur, and sent another message to General Cameron. The Colonial Secretary was under the impression that there being, as he understood, about WOO infantry and cavalry in Taranaki, a small force, say of 100 men, might be left to help in the defence of the town, without materially interfering with any aggressive operations to the South against the few hundreds of Natives collected in that quarter. "With regard to what requires to be done in the present emergency, and to the calling out of the Militia, the Colonial Secretary's opinion coincides with that of his Excellency. This opinion he has expressed in the Memorandum shown to his Excellency on the 27th instant, giving some of the same reasons for it. But the Colonial Secretary cannot convey to his Excellency the conclusive opinion of Ministers as a body on this subject, uutil he has had an opportunity of conferring with his colleagues in Auckland. The Colonial Secretary regrets this delay, but is in no way accountable for it. On the receipt of his Excellency's Minute of the 20th instant, the Colonial Secretary requested a passage for himself and Mr. Hell to Auckland in the "Eclipse." The " Eclipse," it appeared, could not then be sent away, and even if she could have been spared, it seems from the result of a second application this week, that she has not sufficient accommodation for his Excellency and his necessary suite, and Ministers at the same time. Alfbed Domett. May 29th, 186:S.

No. 10, MINUTE by Tns goyebnoh. The Governor begs to acknowledge the receipt of the Colonial Secretary's Minute of yesterday's date, explaining, firstly, that he could not admit, that the expedition, whatever it was, which led the Lieut.-General to move from the Town of New Plymouth on the 25th instant, was abandoned on the recommendation of the Colonial Secretary alone. If the Governor's Minute of the 28th instant implies that such was the case, he is very glad to have an opportunity of removing what would undoubtedly have been an erroneous impression. The Governor did not know until he received the Colonial Secretary's Minute of the 20th, the exact number of men he thought should have been recalled to the Town of New Plymouth upon the 25th instant. In the Governor's opinion, it would have been almost useless to have recalled so small a force as 100 men, to aid in the defence of a Town the outline of which is so extensive : he quite concurred, however, in the propriety, under the circumstances he has stated, of recalling a sufficient force for that purpose. The Colonial Secretary will see that the precise number does not affect the Governor's argument, which was simply this, that it could be shewn from facts which had already transpired, that the Lieut.-General had not now at his disposal a sufficient force in this Province to enable him to undertake any decisive operation here, and that the state of other parts of New Zealand render it rather necessary to reduce the force at Taranaki, than to increase it; and in trying to show this, he had no intention of asserting that the recall of the Troops the other day had been based upon the recommendation of the Colonial Secretary alone, and he is sorry that he gave him the trouble of explaining that such was not the case. G. Gbey. Taranaki, 30th May, 1863.

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COLONIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN NATIVE AFFAIRS.