A.—No. 2A.

No 19. Copy of a Letter from nis honor h. r. Richmond to the hon. c. w. Stafford. Sir,— Superintendent's Office, New Plymouth, 9th April, 1866. I have the honor to inform you that I have just received a note from Mr. Fenton, in which he states that little can be done by the Compensation Court without complete surveys. There is, I am informed, only about 7000 acres of land within the blocks which are to be adjudicated, which is not surveyed. I shall, therefore, with Mr. Parris's consent, cause this land to be surveyed forthwith, if 1 find that it can be done without interfering with the survey at Patea. With respect to the latter surveys, I hope to receive, by the mail of the 13th, some definite assurance as to the sending of Military Settlers to Patea without delay, as the repeated instances of stragglers being killed only a few miles to the north of that place, cause great anxiety to the surveyors who have undertaken to go down there, and my own word is pledged to them that, as far as my influence goes, I will endeavour to prevent any delay in their work, or any unfair exposure to danger. P.S.—I find that a good deal of the work on the 7000 acres named is already done. I have, &c, H. E. Richmond, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. . Superintendent No. 20. (No. 150.) Copy of a Letter from the hon. c. w. Stafford to His honor h. r. Richmond. Sir,— Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 23rd April, 1866. I have to acknowledge the receipt of your Honor's letter of the 9th inst., on the subject of the surveys still required to enable the Compensation Court to sit in Taranaki, and also for the proposed Military Settlements at Patea. With respect to the survey of the 7000 acres which are to be adjudicated on, I have to request that no expense may be incurred in the subdivision of the land, but merely that the external boundaries be surveyed. With reference to the survey at Patea, I have to express my disappointment at the delay which has occurred in this important matter. The Hon. Colonial Defence Minister informs me that your Honor was distinctly apprised by him personally when at Taranaki, and also in his letter of the 9th February last, that the Government would not guarantee to furnish covering parties, and that if the late Taranaki Survey Staff were not prepared to undertake the contract for survey on these terms, the services of surveyors from other parts of the Colony would be obtained ; and further, in your letter of the 29th ult. you stated that certain persons had arranged to survey on the terms specified by him, and that they would be ready to go to Patea for the purpose in a fortnight from that day. More than three months have elapsed since the Hon. Defence Minister represented to your Honor tke necessity of these surveys being commenced at once. Every day's delay in this work is costing the Colony the pay and rations of four hundred officers and men, being nearly at the rate of £100 a day. The surveys might have been commenced at once in the neighbourhood of the camps between Patea and Kakaramea, and there is every reason to hope that by the time they are finished, Colonial Troops from Opotiki will be in the district, and able to protect parties in the further survey, if necessary. I have to impress on your Honor that the funds appropriated for the pay of the Military Settlers are exhausted, and that as they cannot be maintained in pay, they must be located without delay on their lands. If, therefore, they cannot be located soon at Patea, the want of funds will unavoidably necessitate that lands be allotted to them elsewhere. I have, <fee, His Honor the Superintendent, Taranaki. E. W. Stafford. No. 21. (No. 26.) Copy of a Letter from his honor h. r. Richmond to the hon. c. w. Stafford. Sir, — Superintendent's Office, New Plymouth, 28th April, 1866. I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of the 23rd instant, with respect to the Patea surveys. I much regret that I accidentally omitted to advise you of the departure of a survey party (particulars of which are given in the enclosed Memo.) by the Storm Bird on the 20th, that being the first opportunity which presented itself after the expiration of a fortnight from the date of my letter of the 29tk March to which yoxi refer. With respect to the delay which had previously occurred beyond the time originally mentioned by me, I can only say it has not been by any means so considerable as your letter implies, and that it has arisen from causes quite beyond my control. On the 29th January, I informed the Honorable the Defence Minister that Mr. O. Carrington had work for his staff for somewhat over a month, this, with the necessary arrangements for commencing surveys in an entirely new district, would fairly have brought the departure of the party into the middle of

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OF THE CONFISCATED LANDS.