A.—No. 4,

you were satisfied with it, and raised no objection whatever. I understood from Mr. Weld that it embodied your own views, as he had gathered them from one or more conversations ; and I also thought that it accurately expressed the views I understood you to hold. I took great trouble with this matter, and only regret it if there should have been any mistake. You now propose two questions to me,- —Ist. Whether I consider the immediate possession of the Waitotara Block of such consequence, that I wish the Wereroa Pa should be attacked at once notwithstanding the risks and consequences to which you have referred in your correspondence; 2nd> Whether I wish that your advance should be continued towards Taranaki. In reply to the first question, I would say that the idea of the question of the possession of the Waitotara Block has never entered into my calculations. What I desire to see is, the subjection and punishment of tribes who have been guilty of great atrocities, and have instigated others to commit similar acts. Until they are put down and punished, I am sure there can be no peace or safety in this island for Her Majesty's European subjects, or for loyal and well disposed Natives. Next, I would say, you have in your own correspondence, answered the question whether or not I can wish you to attack the Wereroa Pa at once. However necessary I might think the capture of the pa to be, to prevent wrong impressions in the native mind, or to attain the important objects, whicli you have pointed out in your letter of the 17th instant, would follow from the capture of that pa, it is quite impossible for me to request you to attack it at once, when you have told me that you consider your force insufficient to attack so formidable a work, and that to enter upon this task you would require an available force of two thousand men ; that the Natives have rendered the pa so formidable a position, and have at the same time occupied it in such strength, that it could not be taken without serious loss, uncompensated by any corresponding loss on the side of the rebels, who could at any time escape into the bush with impunity. The other alternative presented to me, must therefore necessarily be the one that I choose, viz.,—that you should continue your advance towards Taranaki, so far as the means at your disposal will admit. All I would ask is, that when you find that you cannot get further than some particular point, that you would let me know where that is, that the Colonial Government may determine what it will then do. I have, Ac, Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron, K.C.B. G. Grey. No. 56. His Excellency the Governor to Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron. Sir— Wanganui, 22nd March, 1865. I have the honor to enclose for your information, copy of a Memorandum I have received from my Eesponsible Advisers, requesting that cash advances may be made from the Commissariat chest for the payment of the Wanganui Militia upon a requisition from the Paymaster approved by the Minister for Colonial Defence. The Colonial Government will be responsible for the moneys thus advanced. It is a matter of necessity that these advances should be made from the Commissariat chest at the present moment. The Militia Force about to be embodied here, is necessary for the safety of a part of Her Majesty's possessions, and to co-operate with the Troops. The Colonial Government finds it impossible to raise sufficient funds here at present, either to pay or ration these men. In defraying the expense of the steamers required to keep open your communications, they are doing all that they can do; the arrangement I now ask you to concur in will only be a temporary one, and the Government has, by the last mail, remitted debentures to England for the purpose of repaying to the Treasury £500,000 upon account of advances previously made. I have, Ac, Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron, K.C.B. G. Grey. No. 57. Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron to His Excellency the Governor. My dear Sir George,— Camp Manutahi, 21th March, 1865. We are suffering serious inconvenience from the detention of the " Gundagai" at Wanganui. It has been reported to me that you have employed her to take you up the river Wanganui; if this be true, I hope you will release her at once. She is in the pay of the Commissariat, and is the only steamer that can enter the Patea, and it will be impossible for us to advance further up the coast, or even to maintain the forts we now occupy, unless she makes her trips regularly. If any accident were to happen to her we should be obliged to return to the Waitotara. I have, Ac, D. A. Cameron, Lieut.-General. P.S.—The sooner the " Sturt" is on the Patea the better. D. A. C. His Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B. No. 58. His Excellency the Governor to Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron. My Dear General,— Wanganui, 27th March, 1865. I have received your letter of the 24th March, regarding the detention of the " Gundagai." I do not know who could have made to you so improper a report, as that I had employed the " Gundagai" to take me up the river Wanganui. You will have found from my letter of the 22nd instant, that the " Gundagai " was employed in taking up men to take possession of Parikino, a post of the utmost importance to us for the protection

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CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE