A.—ISo. 4.

No. 22. Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron to His Excellency the Governor. Sir, — Head-Quarters, Wanganui, 31st January, 1865. As the operations which 1 have been instructed by your Excellency to carry on in this part of the Colony render an immediate augmentation of the force at this station indispensable, I have the honor to inform you that I have ordered here the whole of the detachment from Wellington, and 250 men from Taranaki. I consider that these detachments can be withdrawn with safety at the present moment, and if necessary can be replaced by militia and volunteers. I have also to inform you that I have called upon the Militia and Volunteers of this place to furnish 170 men to garrison two of the posts on the frontier. I trust that these measures, which on account of the delay in communicating between this place and Auckland I have ordered without previous reference, will be approved by your Excellency. I would also request that one of the vessels of the squadron may be stationed at Wellington, for the purpose of moving troops to any point on the coatt when necessary; and that arrangements may be made to enable me to communicate by land with Wellington more quickly than at present. I have, &c, D. A. Cameron. His Excellency Sir G. Grey, K.C.B. Lieut.-General. No. 23. Lieut -General Sir D. A. Cameron to His Excellency the Governor. My dear Sir George,— Wanganui, Ist February, 1865. 1 have been detained in this place much longer than I expected, waiting for an opportunity of reconnoitering the mouth of the Waitotara which I only succeeded in doing yesterday. It is Mr. Cadell's opinion that there will be no difficulty in getting the " Gundagai" into the river. I return to camp this afternoon, and intend to cross the river as soon as possible and establish a depot at its mouth, but still holding on for the present to the camp at Nukumaru so that: I may have the option either of attacking the Weraroa Pa (if I can muster men enough and get a good opportunity) or of carrying the whole of my force across the river with the view of operating in the Ngatiruanui country. The day after I landed here I got Mr. White to send a letter to the natives, at Weroroa, who he told me consisted of Waikatos, Ngatiruanuis, and Taranakis, telling them thai I was ready to listen to any offer of terms they might wish to make : but the messenger was fired upon and obliged to return without having delivered the letter. You will see from my official letters the steps I have taken to augment my force. It would have caused great delay to have referred the matter to you, and waited for your answer, for there has been no opportunity of communicating with Auckland since the 22nd of last month. 1 think some arrangement should be made immediately to ensure regular and constant communication between this and Auckland, as long as operations are being carried on here and you remain in Auckland. The withdrawal of troops from Wellington and Taranaki will probably create some discontent, as it may necessitate the calling out of Militia and Volunteers at those places; but if the Government are determined to continue the war they must expect to be called upon to bear part of the expense. I find cavalry most useful; but the Military Train and Artillery were not sent out here for that kind of service, and I think the Government ought to place the Defence Force on its former footing. I wish you would bring the subject to their notice. We may perhaps see you here on your way to the new scat of Government, when yon can leave Auckland. I have, &c., His Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B. D. A. Cameron, Lieut.-General. P.S. —Mr. White has just come to tell me that he has received a letter from the Upper Wanganui, stating that the natives acknowledge to have lost seventy killed on the 25th, among them several chiefs. D. A. C __, No. 24. Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron to His Excellency the Governor. My dear Sir George,— Camp, Nukumaru, 3rd February, 1865. We are still here, but I hope to cross the Waitotara to-morrow night, or rather at daybreak the following morning. I expected to do so without opposition, but it is impossible to say what may happen as the Wanganui Chronicle has thought proper to publish my intention to cross the river, .-it what point it is to be effected, <tc, &c. The only way of putting a stop to such mischievous proceedings is to proclaim Martial Law, which I request may be done at once ; otherwise it is a question whether it would not be better to remove the troops from this part of the Colony. The Maories have been very quiet since the last fight, which is not surprising considering their heavy loss. I have, &c, D. A. Cameron, His Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B. Lieut.-General. No. 25. His Excellency the Governor to Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron. My dear General, — Auckland, 6th February, 1865. I have received your several letters from Wanganui up to the 3rd instant. I was very glad to hear that the natives got such a beating upon the 25th of January, and I hope that their loss

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