.........''Another cause of hesitation on the part of the Hau haus, to surrender to our party, as stated by them to me, on the occasion of my first interview. I feel very reluctant to say anything about it, at first because if true, it reflects very gravely upon an Officer in the service of Government. I refer to Capt. Preece. The Hau Haus state that he has told them through the medium of ''Te Tawa'', not to surrender to me and my party , because if they did, although all sorts of promises may be made to them, immediately they gave themselves up, they would all be killed in cold blood; but recommend them to come and give themselves up to him and his party. How much reliance is to be placed on this story, of course it is impossible for me at present to ascertain; and it is unnecessary for me to enlarge on the amount of damage such a statement is likely to cause..........'' (Signed) F.E. Hamlin. True Extract. (Signed) Jno. Stevens.