G.—ll.

4

£200 —viz., £100 as last stipulated remaining due on the work, and £100 long overdue for writing certain elementary English-Maori books (" Willies First English Book "), &c, as per Dr. Shortland's official letter to me of 1864 ; or, — 2. That I pay the Government the sum of £500 in two bills of £250 each —one at three and one at bix months, without interest, being about half of all moneys (net) received by me from them on account of this work; and that I obtain from them a full acquittance; premising that in this case the whole MSB. in their entirety, and all future profits arising therefrom, to become entirely my own. Of course, should this proposal be selected, then I shall endeavour to proceed with the work with the full intention of making arrangements for the publishing of the same by, or selling the same to, some first-rate London publisher or some Foreign Government, but in no case to the Colonial Government; or, — 3. That I be directed to get on as fast as possible with the work; to do this, however, will be required in conformity with original agreement:— 1. Salary for myself, as originally granted, £300 per annum until finished—say three or it may be four years. (I am now receiving £250 per annum as Inspector of Schools, which office I must either resign, or, if allowed, find a substitute for.) 2. All possible aid from Government officers and others, especially from Maori chiefs and Maori officers in receipt of Government pay; the Government themselves acting heartily, and seeking it for the public good. 3. One of the Armed Constabulary to act as clerk, as offered by you. 4. The privilege of franking and receiving letters and packets for the work free of postage to be again granted me. This was done at the beginning, but in less than a year it was withdrawn. 4. On the satisfactory completion of the work, a supplemental vote to be asked of the General Assembly; or, — 4. That I merely go on quietly and leisurely with the work —as I have been doing for the last five years—trusting to the House for fair remuneration should I live to finish it in this way, which is doubtful; provided also that if I die before I finish it, my executors are to hand over all the Maori MSS. of the work to the Government, and receive from them the (poor) stipulated sum of £100, and whatever amount besides the General Assembly may hereafter be pleased to add thereto. I have, &c, W. Colenso. The Hon. the Native Minister, Sir Donald McLean, K.C.M.G., &c, Wellington.

No. 2. Mr. Colenso to the Hon. the Native Ministee. Sib,— Napier, 21st July, 1875. In accordance with your wish when last here, and my promise, I have the honor to send you by this mail, in a separate packet, thirty-eight pages of MS. copied roughly from my Maori-English Lexicon, to form a few specimen pages of the said work ; and I purpose sending you a few more by the next steamer hence. By forwarding these now, your printer can have them the earlier in his hands, and the rest will be in time for him. I have not read these since I wrote them (only just concluding the last pages), not having had time to do so, and this I regret. I also send you in the same packet six parts of the English-Maori portion of the work—viz., the first three and the last three, equal to six. There are nineteen such parts written in all, and from the last one you will know how far this portion of the work is advanced. This is clean MS., and is all but ready for the press, requiring only a slight revision ; but I do not suppose you will get any of these printed : they are not sent for that purpose, but merely that the House may see some of the MS. of this portion of the said work. If I have time, I will copy a small portion from what I have left—to be printed, to accompany the other pages. I trust that every care will be taken of these six parts, as I have no rough copy, no duplicate. I may also add that I have made this part of the work rather more full and particular than is usually done, in consequence of a remark made to me by the late Superintendent of Auckland (Mr. Williamson), in which I coincided, that by doing so it would prove of great use to Maoris desirous of learning English. I have, &c, W. Colefso. The Hon. Sir D. McLean, K.C.M.G-., Native Minister, &c, "Wellington. By Authority : G-eohge Didsbtot, Government Printer, Wellington.—lB7s. Price 3d.]