A.—No. 4.

reduction in the number of Her Majesty's Troops in New Zealand, and in a Memorandum on the Defence of the Colony, addressed to your Excellency on the 20th March, have stated their opinion that a few months will enable them to supply the place of the whole of the troops at present in the Colony, I propose to give immediate instructions for the relief of the 65th Eegiment on the Waikato frontier, and for their embarkation for England, as soon as tonnage can be provided. To carry out the instructions of Her Majesty's Government, it will be necessary to withdraw the regular troops from some lately formed posts in the Taranaki and Wanganui Provinces, as well as from Tauranga. It is my desire, however, to effect the reduction, as far as possible, in concert with the views and plans of the Colonial Government, and I have therefore to request that your Excellency will inform me whether the Colonial Government are making any and what arrangements to relieve the regular troops which it will be necessary to withdraw. It is very desirable that I should receive information on this subject with as little delay as possible. With reference to the last paragraph of your letter, I would observe, that any movement of troops must be altogether dependent on the time and manner in which the instructions of Her Majesty's Government for a reduction of the force are carried into effect. I have, Ac, D. A. Cameron, His Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B. Lieutenant-General. No. 99. His Excellency the Governor to Lieutenant-General Sir D. A. Cameron. Sir, — Government House, Auckland, 12th May, 1865. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this day's date, informing me that the several intimations of my wishes regarding your operations in the country between Wanganui and Taranaki appear to be at variance with one another. I am unable to discover in what respect they are contradictory. They cannot indeed be said to be intimations of my wishes; for I believe, in each instance previous to my letter of the 17th ultimo, I was informed that what I wished could not be done with the force at your disposal or at that of Colonel Warre, and I simply (as I believed was best for the public service) acquiesced in your doing that which I understood you to profess your willingness and ability to do. If the supposed variance in the intimation of my wishes rests upon the fact, that on the 17th ultimo I stated that I wished that the posts which we occupied between Taranaki and Wanganui should be maintained throughout the winter, and that in my letter of the llth'instant I stated that if you determined to attack the Wereroa Pa, I could see no objection that could exist to the temporary reduction of some of the posts, and to the abandonment of others, I cannot see any variance between those opinions. The fall of the Wereroa Pa, would render the maintenance of some posts unnecessary, and I believe it would be but a short operation, the troops engaged in which could again take up any posts they temporarily abandoned, if their occupation was found necessary after the pa had fallen. In reference to the intimation you give me, that you intend to give immediate instructions for the embarkation of the 65th Eegiment, and that you intend to carry out a further reduction of four regiments, as the Colonial Ministers have on several occasions expressed a desire for a reduction in the number of Her Majesty's Forces in New Zealand, 1 would observe that the instructions issued by Lord do Grey, as I understand them, are, that it is left to your discretion to determine the period at which the proposed reduction can be carried into effect with safety, and without endangering the results which it is the policy of Her Majesty's Government to secure. In this there is no reference to the opinions of Colonial Ministers, which may vary much from time to time ; and in a matter which relates to the safety of a part of Her Majesty's possessions, and the security of the lives and properties of her subjects, for which 1 am responsible, I think it right to act on my own judgment. In reference to the intimation you give me, that to carry out the reduction you propose to make in Her Majesty's Forces in this Colony, it will be necessary to withdraw the regular troops from some lately formed posts in the Taranaki and Wanganui Provinces, as well as from Tauranga, 1 beg to state, that if you will be good enough to inform me at anytime, that in your opinion the proposed reductions, or any part of them, can be carried into effect at any particular date with safety, and without endangering the results which it is the policy of Her Majesty's Government to secure, and will at the same time inform me what available force of regular troops will remain in the Colony after such reduction has taken place, I will then determine what is the distribution of this force which will in my opinion best secure the safety of the Colony, and will issue orders for such distribution being carried out. I will not fail from time to time to acquaint you with all measures that my Eesponsible Advisers may inform me they are taking with a view to raising local forces, and I can assure you that in my belief the Colonial Government are prepared in every way in their power to facilitate the reduction of Her Majesty's Forces now serving here, from time to time, as this can be safely done. I have, Ac, Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron, K.C.B. G. Grey. No. 100. His Excellency the Governor to Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron. Sir, — Government House, Auckland, 12th May, 1865. I am anxious to remark on one passage in your letter of the Ist instant, lest I should be supposed to concur in the policy it advocates. It is this : " Whence by a well-arranged system of patrolling in small bodies to keep up such an apprehension of danger that they (the hostile Natives) will at last fall back permanently into the interior."

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CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE