Mr. Meehan Blackwood's office, Melbourne 6 Decr. 1869 My dear Fox, I thought I should have been able to write you a long letter today, but Featherston having come in in the morning and been talking with Vogel and me up to now, there is no time to do more than send you one line by the Claud Hamilton. We are however to meet again tonight, and then I shall write you more fully; the Tararua sails on the 11th, five days hence, and I daresay you will get our letters by her nearly as soon as those by the Claud. The upshot of-our talk is this. Instead of Featherston being at all depressed about the last dispatch from Granville he at once said there was more reason than ever to go on with our work. He went of course to see Chute, and is just gone to see him again. The General says he will do anything he can now although he has had to send down orders for immediately bringing the troops all up to Auckland, he does not I think mean to be in a great hurry about bringing them away. The home orders are however peremptory that the tenders for shipping are to be opened and determined by the Senior Officer at Auckland,as if they would not trust Chute to revise them. The course I think wd succeed is this: that we should telegraph from Galle, asking that an answer to us be sent to Suez to meet us; by this means we should be able to send you news by the return steamer. However, until Featherston has seen the General again I cannot say that Chute will so frame his orders as to let this (possible)answer reach him through us before the the 18th is actually brought away: and Featherston will not be back from the General's before the Claud is off. On other matters, the Conference, telegraphs, Immigration and so on, Vogel has been very busy here and I hope when the Cabinet meets you will be able to send us some definite instructions: though generally I may say that I advise the Cabinet to do as little as they can in the way. of definite If we succeed, the credit will come to us all: if we got outside the mark and inside the post you should have hands as little tied as possible. On the whole I daresay we shall get on pretty well, as we can only do our best. Mrs. Bell is wonderfully better I have now no doubt of her complete recovery. I hope Mrs. Fox is well. We had a beastly passage, and came up just as the othenberg was leaving, so that although I ran down to Sandridge as quick as I could I could not get a line on board for you. Promising to leave a letter for you to go by Tararua I remain always, Yours very truly F. D. Bell Hon. W. Fox Remember me to Gisborne. Capital fun your sending Knowles after all?