A.— Ho. 4.

recently drowned in landing supplies for the force under your command. On considering the correspondence relating to the proceedings of the force under your command, I think it advisable as you have suggested, that Te Namu should be occupied by a post of sufficient strength, and that Colonel Warre should be reinforced, with a view to his being enabled to march to Te Namu, should such a movement be deemed necessary when the reinforcements reach Taranaki. I have, Ac, Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron, K.C.B. G. Grey. No. 81. His Excellency the Governor to Lieut.-General Sir I). A. Cameron. Sir, — Government House, Auckland, 26th April, 1865. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 22nd instant, in which, in reference to a body of Forest Kangers, under the command of Major Xon Tempsky, removed from the Upper Waikato for service in the Wanganui district, under your orders ; you inform me, firstly, that you have not received any intimation as to the service on which it is proposed they should be employed, nor whether they are to act under your orders; secondly, that General Carey considers the force on the Waikato frontier to have been unduly reduced, looking to the unsettled state of the Native tribes near that frontier : thirdly, that you think that General Carey should always be consulted previously to any alteration in the strength or distribution of the force allotted to him for the defence of the frontier, as otherwise he cannot be held responsible for its safety. In reply, I beg to state as follows : — I believe that the whole of the arrangement you allude to was carried out in conformity with your wish. Iso understood your views in the interview we had on the Patea, and on the Bth of March you wrote to me as follows :—" It will however be a great advantage to have a safe communication with Wanganui and the Waitotara, and for that reason I hope the Government will not be long in raising the Bushrangers and Cavalry, which they might have done more than a month ago if any of them had thought proper to come to Wanganui at the commencement of our operations. What is the Minister of Defence about ? I should think that Yon Tempsky and some of his men would gladly volunteer for service." On the second and third points, I would observe that Ido not think that General Carey's force has been unduly reduced, looking to the necessities of the service elsewhere ; and 1 would remind you that lam the person upon whom,in the first instance, the responsibility for the safety and welfare of the Colony rests —that I am in possession of all the information regarding the state of General Carey's particular district which he can possess, and of information regarding the state of other districts of the country concerning which he can know nothing. I cannot therefore, although 1 entertain the highest respect and esteem for General Carey's abilities, undertake always to consult him previously to making any alteration in the strength of the force allotted for the defence of his district, as I must in many instances be guided by considerations of which he knows nothing, and regarding which it might be either inconvenient, or the cause of a long delay, to communicate with him. A consideration of these points will, I am sure, satisfy you. that the power confided to me in these respects is a wise and necessary one, and thai: 1 ought to retain its exercise in my own hands. I have, Ac., Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron, K.C.B. G. Guey. No. 82. Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron to His Excellency the Governor. Sir, — Head Quarters, Auckland, Ist May, 1865. I have the honor to inform your Excellency that I have left a sufficient number of troops to occupy the posts at Manawapou and the Waingongoro, agreeably to the request contained in your letter of the 17th ultimo, and I have moved the remainder of Brigadier-General Waddy's column back to the Patea, whence I have come up to Auckland to receive such further instructions as you may think proper to give me, and to be at hand to furnish you with any information you may require. With reference to the remark in your Excellency's letter that you felt it your duty to acquiesce in the decision I had formed, I would beg to observe that I had formed and could form no decision, it being my duty to regulate the operations of the troops under my command, in accordance with the views and wishes of your Excellency, a knowledge of which it was the object of my letter of the 7th ultimo to obtain. I did no more than express my opinion on subjects which I submitted for your own consideration and decision. I informed your Excellency in that, and in a subsequent letter, how far I considered it practicable with the means at my disposal to carry out the plan you propose of occupying the line of coast bet ween Taranaki and Wanganui by posts, for the purpose of establishing the land communication between the two places. I have only to add that 1 think that about four hundred men (instead of the whole of Brigadier-General Waddy's column, as stated in my letter of the 7th April), would, under present circumstances, be a sufficient moveable column to leave at the Patea to support the posts between the Waitotara and the Waingongoro, and to keep open the communication between them. The remainder of General Waddy's column amounting to rather more than the same number, might be detached for service at Taranaki, if necessary, as I mentioned in my letter of the 14th April. I also stated that if it be proposed to locate settlers in the open country, between the sea coast and the bush, it will be necessary to establish a line of posts along the border of the bush for their protection, and, I would add, that such a line of posts would, in my opinion, be equally necessary, if, previous to the location of settlers, it be considered advisable to drive the hostile natives from their present position in the bush, and to compel them to abandon altogether the neighbourhood of the open country ; for the fbree employed in an operation of this nature should be posted at favourable points in close proximity

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CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE