Offered here is a short 12-page set of official correspondence printed in Wellington in 1865 laying out one of the less glorious episodes in the life of the great NZ ornithologist Sir Walter Buller, acting in his capacity as resident magistrate for the Manawatu in 1863. It prints the correspondence of Buller and his superior W.B.D. Mantell (and others) regarding a courier charge incurred by Buller which eventually earned him a stern reprimand from the Government. Buller had swum his horse across the Manawatu River in flood and sat up all night at Otaki before sending a Maori courier express at a cost of 3 pounds to Wellington to warn the government that the natives of the district were accumulating large amounts of ammunition. His mismanagement of this business (if you agree with Mantell) almost cost him his job and his reputation — the full and fascinating episode can be found in the correspondence printed in this document.

32 x 21cm, disbound (old stitching stab-holes to margin), 12 pages total of which 2 are titles and 2 are blank.