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A.—No. 1

NEW ZEALAND TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE.

transmit herewith to Sir George Barrow, letters from those gentlemen acknowledging the receipt of their insignia as Companions of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. I have, &c, The Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley. G. E. BOWEN. (Enclosures sent in original.)

No. 75. Copy of a DESPATCH from Governor Sir G. E. Bowen, G.C.M.G., to the Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley. (No. 58.) Government House, Auckland, My Lord,— New Zealand, 27th June, 1872. At the request of the Superintendent of Otago, I have the honor to transmit herewith a Congratulatory Address to the Queen from the Council of that Province, on the recovery of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. I have, &c, The Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley. G. E. BOWEN. (Enclosure sent in original.)

No. 76. Copt of a DESPATCH from Governor Sir G. F. Bowen, G.C.M.G., to the Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley. (No. 59.) Government House, Auckland, My Lord, — New Zealand, 27th June, 1872. In continuation of my Despatch No. 50, of the 10th June instant, I have the honor to report that I returned to Auckland on the 22nd instant, after a visit of more than three weeks to the Waikato district. 2. I have little to add at present respecting Native affairs to the contents of my above-mentioned Despatch, and of the Memorandum by Mr. McLean, which accompanied it. During my recent tours, I have followed the Waikato, the great central river of the North Island of New Zealand, almost from its source, under the burning mountain of Tongariro, to the spot where it flows into the sea, on the West Coast, a distance of above two hundred miles. I have visited every European settlement and Native Icainga upon or near its banks, and nothing can have been more cordial than my reception everywhere, —alike by my own countrymen and by the Maoris, —alike by the clans lately in rebellion, and by the clans which have always been loyal to the Queen. 3. I annex an editorial article, commenting on my late journey across the recently hostile or disaffected districts, which has appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, the leading journal of New South Wales. The opinion of this able and influential Australian writer is not without importance. He truly remarks that the main interest of my recent tours lies in the test which they afford of the policy carried out by the Colonial Government during my administration in New Zealand. 4. I shall leave Auckland in the Colonial Government steamer "Luna" within a few days from the date of this Despatch, on my return to Wellington. I shall be accompanied by Mr. McLean and by several Maori chiefs, of different clans, who are now with us. We shall proceed by the East Coast of this Island, and intend to visit on our voyage all the principal Native settlements near the sea. By the first opportunity after my arrival at Wellington, I shall address a further report to your Lordship. I have, &c, The Eight Hon. the Earl of Kimberley. G. E. BOWEN. 25