Whangaroa 24th. August 1857. My dear Sir, I was delighted with a sight of your handwriting by last mail and particularly with the flourishing account you give of the prosperous state of your affairs in that far famed district of Ahuriri. I wrote you a hurried note while at Mokau and promised to give you a succint account of my trip to Taranaki which I must even now defer in detail until I see you which I hope will be in a few days. When we parted on the wharf I returned to the office, lonely and disconsolate and was bated for an entire week by Takerei and the people who claim Hauraki, which terminated in each party declining to accept the terms proposed for Hauraki and Tawatahi. I lingered about doing little or nothing until it was time