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No. 22. Copy of DESPATCH from Governor the Right Hon. Sir J. Fergusson, Bart., to the Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley. (No. 4.) My Lord, — Invercargill, New Zealand, 19th January, 1874. In reply to your Lordship's Despatch No. 69, of 10th October, 1873, transmitting a copy of a letter addressed to Earl Granville by Messrs. Shaw, Savill, and Co., upon the subject of a fine imposed by the Government of New Zealand upon one of their vessels, I have the honor to enclose, for your Lordship's information, papers printed in the Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, D. 1, 1873, which contain a full account of the circumstances which led to the prosecution of the " Glenlora." 2. It will be seen that in each case short issue of rations, in contravention of the 35th clause of "The Passenger Act, 1855," was distinctly proved, and that although the plea urged by Messrs. Shaw, Savill, and Co., that the necessity for short issue arose from the presence on board of the shipwrecked crew of the "Fuchs," and was advanced in the defence, it appears to have been entirely disposed of by the evidence of the third mate, whose duty it was to serve out the provisions, and who distinctly swore that the shipwrecked persons were provisioned out of the crew's stores, which are always kept and issued separately from those put on board for the emigrants. 3. The captain of the ship, who was imbecile from habitual drunkenness, and who had been superseded in the command by the chief officer, was unable to give the Court any information as to the stores shipped in London, and it appears clear that he had miscalculated the quantity necessary for the passage from the Mauritius to New Zealand, even had his careless navigation not tended, as it did, to prolong the voyage materially. 4. Your Lordship will probably be of opinion that it is upon the Colonial Government, if upon any one, that the present claim for reimbursement should be made, they being the contracting parties with Messrs. Shaw, Savill, and Co., but that there is no good ground for any such claim. 5. I think it right to add, as there appears, in the Memorandum of the Minister for Immigration upon the case, an expression implying censure upon the Agent-General of the Colony, that that officer defended himself in the subsequent correspondence, and that the arrangements made for the immigrants who arrived since I have been in the Colony have been generally excellent. I have, &c, JAMES FERGUSSON, The Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley. Governor.

No. 23. Copy of DESPATCH from Governor the Right Hon. Sir J. Fergusson, Bart., to the Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley. (No. 5.) My Lord, — Invercargill, New Zealand, 19th January, 1874. The Government of New Zealand are contemplating a scheme for the conservation and extension of the forests, which hitherto have been greatly wasted; and with a view to the establishment of a scientific system, they are desirous of procuring information as to the system adopted in countries where the State forests are managed as a valuable branch of the national property. 2. I have the honor to request that you will have the goodness to obtain for our use, through the Foreign Department, copies of the Forest Regulations of Germany, France, and Sweden and Norway ; and I would state that the value of this information would be enhanced if it could be made available during the next Session of the General Assembly, which may commence about the end of June. 3. I would further ask your Lordship to do me the favour of obtaining in like manner copies of the Government Regulations of the Spanish Government in Cuba and Manilla, for the growth, manufacture, and sale of tobacco, and of the Nether-