OF A ROAD BETWEEN WANGANUI AND TAUPO.

7

D.—No. Id.

hand, who had to stand still while I ascertained, day by day, the formation of the ground and selected the line, and would be quite unable to explain the lay of the country, the reason why the track was taken in certain directions, and t>;e manner in which 1 proposed to deal with various parts of it, all which would be necessary to enable Mr. Hales to form a correct opinion on the subject. I think it, therefore, not only best but necessary that I should accompany Mr. Hales, to give him such information, and am obliged to you for suggesting that I should do so. I saw him. yesterday afternoon, and learned that he could not start for several days, and have requested him to let me know when he is ready. L have, &c, W. L. Buller, Esq., E.M., Wanganui. 11. C. Field.

Enclosure 2 in No 4. Mr. Field to Mr. Bullkr, K.M. Sir, — Wanganui, 25th July, 1870. In reply to yours of the 2!3rd instant, I beg to say that, except that of doing my best to carry out "the work properly, implied in my accepting the post of Engineer to the Mangawhero-Taupo lioad, I never made any promise whatever to Mr. Fox respecting it; and that one I have faithfully performed. .At the titne 1 received your letter 1 was engaged in writing one to Mr. Fox, pointing out exactly how, and as far as possible to what extent, the work had been prolonged, and the expenses (both those included in mv estimate anil those extraneous to it) increased in various ways. 1 will accompany Mr. Hales, whom 1 have seen on the subject; but we cannot go for some days, owing to the river being flooded, and Mr. McGregor's canoe being down at the Wangaehu Bridge, to take tip to the new house he has built, articles too heavy or bulky to be conveyed by pack-horse. 1 have, &c, W. L. Buller, Esq., E.M., Wanganui. 11. C. Field.

No. 5. Mr. Coopkr to Mr. Buu/eb, R.M. Sin, — Colonial Defence Office, Wellington, Ist August, IS7O. I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 27th ultimo, covering two letters from Mr, H. C. i'ield, dated 23rd and 25th July, IS7O, relative to the Mangawhero-Taupo lluad. 1 have, &c, W. Buller, Esq., E.M., Wanganui. G. 8. Cooper, Under Secretary.

No. 0. Mr. Field to the Hon. W. Fox. Sin,— Wanganui, 23rd July, 1870. I have been extremely sorry to bo told by Mr. Buller lhat you were under the impression that I bad misled you as to the cost of the Mangawhero-Taupo pack horse track, and the time necessary for its completion. Thai the time J named has been far exceeded is perfectly true, bub this has arisen from circumstances that I could neither foresee nor control, and which have to a comparatively trifling extent aft'eeted the tout of the work as referred to in my estimate. That estimate, owing to its being- formed overlooking the country often from a distance of several miles, ■was necessarily a rough one ; but still, from the allowances I had made for contingencies, it was substantially accurate, and had the work been done in the manner I described in my subsequent conversation with yourself, in which 1 explained my grounds for believing that such a length of track could be formed for so small a sum as Jj-ijo, the whole would have been completed in very little more time than I mentioned. 1 have, m mv reports, from time to time referred to the various sources of delay and additional expense, but I think it wiil be best to explain, in a condensed form, the whole state of the case, in order that you may see how any misunderstanding I,as arisen, and how the total cost of the work has been increased. Tne increase, as T have above intimated, hsis been almost entirely on things extraneous to my estimate. Waen an engineer furnishes an estimate for any road work, ho names merely what he considers a fair contract price lor its actual execution, and does not include the time occupied by himself and his assistants in laying oil' the work and preparing the necessary data and specifications for it, nor any that is likely to be taken up in superintending and inspecting the work during its progress. The estimate is for the work, and the work only. My estimate was of this usual character. I supposed, when I wrote my report, that the work would be entrusted to some member of the Government Engineering Staff, ami 1 gave a minute description of what appeared to me to be the most practicable route, in order to enable such engineer to readily find and follow it; but I never dreamed of including his salary, or that of his assistants, in the estimate. Still less did I include the salaries of overseers to superintend gangs of Native labourers, or of Native Chiefs for supplying such labourers, for the simple reason that not only would it have been most unusual for an estimate to cover such matters, but that, at the time my report was written, such a thing as the employment of Maoris on the work had never occurred to me. it was not till some days afterwards that, on Mr. Buller's asking if I would be willing to act as engineer to the work, and my replying that "if the Board would spare me I would do either that or contract for the whole, incluuiug the selection and superintendence of the line," Mr. Buller said, " The Government could not Jet the work iv such a manner, as the vote of