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to institute. Suffice it to say, I do not consider that the correspondence in reply, now forwarded to me by your Honor from the Hon. the Colonial Secretary, affords any explanation whatever of the allegations contained in my letter, and therefore no satisfaction of the grievances therein specified. The Native Tiopira personally called on me at my office on Saturday week and Monday week last, in company with his son, and Mr. Woods, a Native-school teacher, who informed me that he (Tiopira) came to interview me on the subject of my correspondence with your Honor on his present business ; and knowing that the Hon. the Native Minister was expected soon in Auckland, I advised him (Tiopira) to remain in Auckland till Sir Donald McLean's arrival, a course which was readily assented to. Previous to this interview I had never seen Tiopira, and I believe his visit to me is attributable to a letter which he received from the chief Paul, who subsequent to my former letter to your Honor wrote to Tiopira, informing him that he (Paul) had seen me, and that I had written to your Honor on his behalf. On this occasion, also, Tiopira seemed to entertain great indignation in relation to the matters connected with the conclusion of the sales of Waipoua and Maunganui Blocks; and further expressed his desire of accompanying me to interview both your Honor and Sir Donald MeLean on the subject. I have not, however, seen him since; but having heard that he has been the guest of the chief Paul, I am inclined to conjecture that Tiopira, acting under the sinister influence of deputed finesse, has refrained from calling on me. This being so, and having received no official intimation that the grievance has been satisfied, I must again request that your Honor will, if there appear now still to be sufficient reason, urge either that such satisfaction (by payment to Tiopira of his proportion of the extra purchase money) be made, or an inquiry with that view held; and that in the meantime all proceedings relative to the deeds of the blocks in question be stayed. No better opportunity than the present could arise, as the Hon. the Native Minister and all the parties concerned are now in Auckland. I cannot close this letter without adverting specially to one point in the Hon. the Colonial Secretary's letter, to which he has devoted a concluding paragraph of an uncomplimentary import. I would not trouble your Honor with any comments on this aspect of the subject were it not manifest that, by an inordinate investigation regarding the source of my information either by the Hon. the Colonial Secretary or the officers to whom he referred the papers, strenuous efforts have been made to raise a false issue and divert attention from the subject-matter under consideration. These efforts are shown by the letter apparently extorted from the chief Paul, who seems, as far as I can judge from the translation forwarded to me, in a state of duress to have written categorical answers to indicated questions. I use the word "duress" advisedly, for otherwise surely it cannot have escaped the memory of Paul that he came to my office on Tiopira's business; that, as Tiopira's agent, he, with Heta te Haara and Te Haurangi, accompanied me to interview your Honor, as your Honor is aware, upon the subject only of the matters contained in my previous letter ; that, prior to this interview, he, with Heta te Haara, Te Haurangi, and Mr. William Young, a licensed interpreter, went with me to Colonel Haultain, Trust Commissioner, to show cause why, under the circumstances already detailed by me, the registration and other steps towards completion of the deeds of conveyance should be stayed till an arrangement satisfactory to Tiopira had been arrived at. The chief Paul makes no mention of these facts, and consequently does not contradict them. I am, therefore, certain that Paul has allowed himself to be constrained into writing his letter ; otherwise, in the face of the conclusive incidents above quoted, he could not have resorted to so desperate and audacious a statement as that wherein he says, " but, as for myself, I had nothing to say with reference to the matter complained of." The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, I think, seems to regard my position in this correspondence as importing other than purely professional significance. My relations in this matter, as in the case of Heta te Haara and Te Haurangi (concerning which I await a reply), are simply those of solicitor and client —a circumstance which there is evidently an inclination on the part of the Hon. the Colonial Secretary to ignore. The issue before us, and the only one which with any show of pertinence we can deal, is, not as to the source of my information in relation to the matters (which are, as described by me, " facts "), but whether or not that information is correct, or can be established. This issue, I hold, is untouched by the correspondence forwarded to me, and therefore the grievance complained of still remains unexplained and unredressed. In conclusion, I enclose a letter from Mr. C. E. Nelson, Licensed Interpreter and Assistant Land Purchase Agent, who in such capacities possesses personal knowledge of the transactions now in question ; and beg to call your Honor's especial attention to the circumstances therein detailed relating to the extraordinary statements made and position now sought to be assumed by the chief Paul. I have, &c, Joseph A. Tole, His Honor the Superintendent, Auckland. Solicitor. Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 3. Mr. Nelson to Mr. Tole. Sic,— Auckland, Ist May, 1876. Having perused the letters you sent me on the 29th ultimo, I beg to return them with the following desultory remarks upon their argumentation. In the first place, I fail to comprehend why the Hon. the Colonial Secretary makes use of satirical expressions, as " your Honor is pleased to describe," &c, when his Honor the Superintendent simply transmits a report of complaints made by Paora Tuhaere and other Natives against certain members of the Native Department. It appears that iv your letter to his Honor the Superintendent, or in its copy to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Paore is written where, from the context, it is evident that Tiopira is meant; nevertheless this small graphical error is dwelt upon as one of the clinching points in the negative demon-