serious has happened them. Poor Catherine seems quite disapointed at her Canterbury trip. She does not seem to like the company she is with much. I do hope and trust altho the feature of things look black among the natives in this island at preasant that we will not have any more war. I had some of the chiefs our neighbours, old Harrawerra, and others here today making a demand of £30 and three bags of sugar for payment for rent for the plains saying if I did not gave it then they would get it from plenty others but that they would rather have us there than strangers if we gave them what was fair. I did all I could to smooth him of[f] but he came to the conclution that I must go with him tommorrow to Mr Alex and make some arrangement with him as he says they had a runanga among themselves and they say they will not wait my brother Alex coming and all I can tell them will not make them believe he is coming back and they say he was always putting them off and they will not be put off any longer. I told him as they wanted the sugar for a feast at the new mill that if he gave me a receipt for it as part payment that I would gave him three bags of 50lb each but as to the £30 I would not gave him till I would find out how much my brother had promised them and how much he had hitherto payed them, however please God tommorrow I will go to our kind friend Alex and take his advice on the