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given to Mr. Mackay to purchase. This was the only letter I wrote in which in any way I "recommended " the Government to purchase land at Tairua, and it was in reference to such portion only of the block as contained no timber of any value. I did write another letter, but, as far as I can recollect, there was no recommendation of any sort in it. It was merely a formal statement, written in Mr. Mackay's absence, with reference to blocks which he had for some time before been instructed to purchase, and for which he had for a considerable time been in negotiation; but it was necessary, in order to get the advance of money to complete them, for a written application to be made in reference to the same. It was in this way : Mr. Mackay had been instructed by Mr. Ormond in March, 1872, to purchase the freehold of a very large extent of land in the Thames Peninsula, certain portions of which, he was informed by Mr. Mackay in an official report, was subject to existing agreements between the saw-mill owners and the Natives, of which the Tairua Valley is particularly mentioned. With this information before him, Mr. Ormond gave Mr. Mackay instructions to purchase the land subject to these agreements. I was at that time acting as a private land agent, and was asked by Mr. Mackay if I would assist him in the purchase of these lands. I consented to do so, he dividing with me the commission which he was to obtain. I had no connection whatever with the Government in the matter, nor had I any communication with them but the one above referred to. About November, 1872, I having been attending tho sitting of the Native Land Court at the Thames with Mr. Mackay for some time, was coming up to Auckland on some business of my own, and Mr. Mackay, who was very busy at the time I left, in Court, asked me to call on Dr. Pollen and ask him to furnish him as speedily as possible with funds to complete the purchase of those lands which had then passed the Court. I called on Dr. Pollen and delivered the message, and he asked me why Mr. Mackay had not written him a letter making the application. I told him that I came away in a hurry, and that Mr. Mackay was pressed with work, and had asked me to call. He told me it was necessary to have a written application, in order to know what blocks of laud the money was required for, and asked me which blocks of land had passed the Court. I wrote down a list of the blocks which had up to that time passed, of which I believe the Tairua Block, 36,000 acres, was one. He then told me to write him a letter on the subject, which I did on the spot, at his table. I kept no copy of the letter, looking upon it as a mere formal document for the purpose of getting the money which Mr. Mackay required, and had asked me to speak to Dr. Pollen about. If I recollect rightly, Mr. Gillies, the then Superintendent, was present at the time. Having made no copy of the letter, I have no means of referring to it now; but I feel satisfied in my own mind that I made no recommendation whatever in it as to the advisability or not of purchasing either the Tairua Block, or any of the blocks mentioned therein. Had I, as stated by the Chairman of the Committee, written " a letter to the Government hurrying it on," and that, on my " recommendation, the whole thing took place," I should, as was my usual habit, have written the letter in my office, and copied it in my letter-press book, and the letter would have been replied to, which was not the case in this instance —at all events, I received no reply. When I wrote the letter at Dr. Pollen's table, I was, as a matter of fact, aware that the purchase of the Tairua Block, as well as that of the other blocks named in that letter, had for some considerable time before been decided on by the Government, and that Mr. Mackay had received instructions to purchase them; and I was also aware that the Government were fully cognizant of the timber rights by which they were encumbered; so that, under those circumstances, it was quite unnecessary for me to offer any recommendation regarding them, beyond the question of the advance of money, which I may or may not have said it was desirable to make without delay: I cannot remember whether I did or not. But of this I am satisfied, these purchases did not originate, or "the whole thing take place," as the result of this letter, for the Government had been then for some time in negotiation for them, and that without any suggestion whatever from me ; nor did I even express myself in any way to the Government that it was desirable to purchase the Tairua Block above referred to, for the simple reason that I was never employed by the Government in tbe matter, or consulted on the subject. I was employed by Mr. Mackay to assist him, and was paid by him for my services ; and I acted for no other parties in reference to any of these lands in which I was so employed by Mr. Mackay thau to assist him in the purchase of the land for the Government. I was not the agent of Messrs. Seccombe and Son in any way, nor had I or my firm (Preece and Graham) ever acted for them in any way whatever, either directly or indirectly ; but at one time, a few years before, we were retained to act against them in their rights to the timber on this very block of land, but we abandoned it after looking into the merits of the case. Nor was I or my partner, Mr. Graham, instrumental, directly or indirectly, in inducing the Natives to sign the lease of the Tairua Block to Messrs. Seccombe and Son; nor had either of us, at the time the lease to Mr. Seccombe was signed, contemplated or conceived an idea of purchasing any interest in the Tairua Mill, or the forests connected with it; but a proposal was made to us a very short time afterwards to go into the matter, to which I shall presently allude. At the time the titles were being perfected for Messrs. Seccombe and Son by Mr. Mackay, as their agent, with the consent of the Government, and for some three or four months previously, the Tairua Saw-mill and forests were advertised for sale in the Auckland newspapers —application to be made to Messrs. J. S. Macfarlane and Co. Shortly after the Tairua lease was signed to Messrs. Seccombe, Mr. John McLeod (who had been for some time fruitlessly endeavouring to induce some one to join him in the purchase of this property from Mr. Seccombe) met my partner, Mr. Graham, in Auckland, and made a proposal to him that if he would purchase the property, he (Mr. McLeod) would find sufficient support from other parties to enable him to carry on the working of the same —which is, after all, in a saw-mill, the greatest outlay of cash —and that the only money required to be found by the purchasers of the property would be the purchase-money itself; that he would undertake to produce the timber at a certain price per hundred feet without any advances from us, but to be paid for as delivered at the ship's side. This conversation took place in Auckland ; and Mr. Graham, after some consideration, said he was prepared to entertain the matter if I would consent, so he proceeded to the Thames to see me on the subject. After discussing the matter with him I consented to go into it, provided the property could be purchased at a reasonable price, and after inspection of the machinery by Mr. McLeod. As to the