A.—No. 4,

What remains to be done, however, after you have subdued the country north of Wanganui, even so far as Patea, is not, in my belief, more than the Colony ought to be able to accomplish in, say two years from the present time, from its own resources. If, therefore, the force you have is not sufficient to enable you to occupy the country which remains between the Patea and the point Colonel Warre can advance to, I think the Colony must be satisfied with what you can do with the resources at your disposal; and that after all England has done for it, it ought not to call upon Great Britain to send further large reinforcements here. I really should feel most unwilling to make such a demand. Everything that is now taking place leads me to the conclusion that the natives will soon submit in nearly all parts of the island, and once they do submit, they return much more speedily to friendly relations with us than you would suppose. If lam right in this view, the war might be nearly terminated before further reinforcements could arrive. I have, Ac, Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron, K.C.B. G. Grey. No. 44. His Excellency the Governor to Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron. My dear General, — Wanganui, 14th March, 1865. The " Gundagai" has been delayed by bad weather, I therefore add a little to my letters of yesterday. I send you the copy of a note from the Commodore, which I have just received, informing me of the barbarous murder of a Mr. Volkner, a German Missionary, as good, simple and upright a man as I have ever known. Nothing could have been more noble than his death was : altogether it is a most shocking affair. I have no doubt that it was a political murder. It was an old native custom whenever they wished to draw you off from a war you were engaged in, and to involve you with a new enemy, to go into his country and commit some most horrible murder, so as, if possible, to excite your passions and induce you to abandon every other object in the hope of obtaining immediate revenge. The murder of poor Mr. Volkner is marked with all the characteristics of a murder of this kind, and I have no doubt it was committed with a view of inducing us to engage in immediate war with the East Coast natives, and to withdraw us from this place. I presume the " Esk" will be at once sent back from Wellington here, and in that case I shall lose no time in proceeding for a short period to Auckland, recommending Mr. Mantell to come here. It is quite impossible to say what steps I may think it necessary to take in consequence of Mr. Volkner's murder, until I receive further information as to the number of the natives who were engaged in it, but I will keep you fully informed upon the subject. I am informed that by the end of this month the Government will have raised a troop of irregular Cavalry, of the strength of sixty-four men and officers. I hope this may prove an efficient and useful force. I am told that firing was heard near Patea yesterday, and there is a report that some fighting took place. lam looking out anxiously for the details, but the surf on the bar is so heavy to-day that I almost fear the " Gundagai" will not be able to get out until to-morrow. I have, Ac, Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron, K.C.B. G. Grey. No. 45. Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron to His Excellency the Governor. My dear Sir George,— Camp Kakaramea, 14th March, 1865. I received late last night the news of the horrible murder of Mr. Volkner, and the capture of Mr. Grace and other Europeans, by the Pai Mairire fanatics at Opotiki. Should the latter succeed in stirring up the natives of the East Coast, the consequences may be serious. I shall be glad to know whether you consider it necessary, in consequence of these events, to make any alteration in your plans regarding my operations in this part of the country. We marched yesterday morning at 7 o'clock from our camp at the Patea, and after proceeding about a mile and a half, we came upon a body of about two hundred Maoris, who had posted themselves on a commanding ridge across our line of advance. We immediately attacked them, drove them from their position, and pursued them for four or five miles. They retired leisurely, and we inflicted a considerable loss upon them. We picked up eighteen dead bodies and three wounded men, and took two prisoners ; besides these, some were shot in trying to cross the river, and there are no doubt still many bodies about the fern and in the swamp, which we had not time to find. Altogether, they were tolerably well punished. We march again this morning towards Manutahi and Manawapou. I have, Ac, D. A. Cameron, Lieut.-General. P.S. —We had only one man killed and three severely w rounded. His Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B. D. A. C. No. 46. Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron to His Excellency the Governor. My dear Sir George,— Manutahi, 15th March, 1865. We arrived here yesterday afternoon, and as the bush comes down to the road at this point a post is absolutely necessary for the safety of our communication before we can move further on;

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