A.—No. 15a,

8

INSTRUCTIONS AND AUTHORITIES UNDER WHICH

Your request to be allowed to have carried, in a Government vessel, 20,000 feet of timber, will bo acceded to in as far as practicable ; but I fear that the " St. Kilda" will by this trip, in consequence of the provisions, Government stores, and freight carried on payment for Mr. Beamish, be able to take little more than what is required for the magazine. Captain Johnson has been directed to place as much on board as possible. You require about 5,000 feet for the gaol, and this, I presume, will be supplied by the Native Department. The Government approve of the steps you have taken with regard to the twenty rifles forwarded on the last occasion in the " St. Kilda;" but if you are of opinion that their retention on the island will be attended with danger, rather than serve as a protection to the settlers, I am to request you to return them, and such ammunition as you have not the means of keeping in safe custody, bj the return of the steamer. You will be good enough to pay the Native portion of the guard any arrears of pay due to them. I have, &c, J. Holt, Captain Thomas, E.M., Chatham Islands. Under Secretary. P.S.—I am to request you to send, by return steamer, a full report of the nature and position of the redoubt, with a tracing showing the encampment of the prisoners, the redoubt, the site of the magazine, and the quarters you are preparing for the officers. You will bo good enough to have this report and tracing very carefully prepared. J. Holt.

No. 11. Copy of a Letter from Captain Holt to Captain Thomas. (No. 60-5.) Colonial Defence Office, Sib,— Wellington, 22nd March, 1867. In accordance with the estimates and requisitions forwarded in your letter of 13th January, No. 10, atid Bth February, No. 15, I have the honor to inform you that the sum of £700, and the clothing and provisions enumerated in the accompanying schedule, are now being sent in the Government steamer " St. Kilda." You will perceive that the supplies of tea, sugar, and rice indented for by you have been, reduced by one-half, as, for reasons which will be more fully explained in another letter, the Government do not consider it necessary, without further information, to continue to so large an extent as heretofore the issue of these articles to the prisoners. A_nd so also with regard to meat: they ought not to receive a full ration, having a plentiful supply of potatoes; for in their homes neither moat, tea, sugar, nor rice are amongst the articles of their daily consumption, and there is no reason why they should be better fed as prisoners than those who have all along remained loyal to the Queen. In your estimates and requisition, I am to request you to distinguish invariably for the future all articles required for the prisoners as against those for the guard, in order that the Government may know exactly what supplies are issued to the prisoners. You will be pleased to send me separate receipts in duplicate for the money, provisions, and clothing now forwarded. I have, &c, J. Holt, Captain Thomas, K.M., Chatham Islands. Under Secretary.

No. 12. Copy of a Letter from Captain Holt to Captain Thomas. (No. 159-5.) Colonial Defence Office, Sib,— "Wellington, 24th June, 1867. I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letters noted in the margin, and am directed in reply to inform you that the sum of £95-1 15s. 9d. will by this opportunity be remitted to you from the Treasury to enable you to make the following payments, viz. : — £ s. d. Pay to guard for March ... ... ... ... 174 7 (> Meat rations supplied to guard and prisoners for March ... 53 10 0 Pay to guard for months of April, May, and June... ... 55G 17 G Meat rations to prisoners for Juno quarter ... ... 134 4 0 Meat rations to guard for June quarter ... ... 35 16 3 £954 15 9 —£500 cash, and £454 15s. 9d. to your credit, Public Account, Bank of New Zealand, Wellington. The stores enumerated in the accompanying schedule are also forwarded, and in reference thereto I am to instruct you that for the future the Native prisoners are only to receive rations according to thefollowing scale, for, as stated in a former letter, neither meat, tea, nor rice are amongst the articles of their daily consumption when at their own homes, and there is no reason whatever why they should bo better fed as prisoners than their fellow countrymen who have remained loyal to the Queen. Scale: —Males, 2 lbs. flour, 4 oz. sugar, per diem, -J- lb. tobacco per month ; females, two-thirds of the daily rations, but no tobacco ; children, one-third of the daily rations, but no tobacco ; and as a special favour, the whole may receive a ration of meat each once a week. It is not the desire of the Government that the prisoners should be kept under such strict surveillance as appears hitherto to have been maintained. They are to be employed in raising food for

No. 22, April 10, 1867. No. 26, April 17,1867.