'My dear Cousin,--I have received at length from my father a distinct
statement of what you have given to the Melanesian Mission. I had
heard rumours before, and the Bishop of Wellington had spoken to me
of your intentions, but the fact had not been regularly notified to
us.

'I think I know you too well to say more than this. May God bless
you for what you have lent to Him, and give us, who are specially
connected with the Mission, grace to use your gift as you intend it
to be used, to His glory in the salvation of souls.

'But you will like to hear how your gift will be appropriated. For
three summers the Melanesian scholars lived at St. John's College,
which is situated on a low hill, from which the ground falls away on
every side, leaving it exposed to every wind that blows across and
around the narrow isthmus.

'Thank God, we had no death traceable to the effect of the climate,
but we had constant anxiety and a considerable amount of illness.
When arrangements were completed for the arrival of a new principal
to succeed the Bishop of Wellington, the college was no longer likely
to be available for the Mission school. Consequently, we determined
to build on the site long ago agreed upon; to put up some substantial
buildings, and to remove some of the wooden buildings at the College
which would not be required there, and set them up again at
Kohimarama.

'Just opposite the entrance into the Auckland harbour, between the
island of Eangitoto with its double peak and the easternmost point of
the northern shore of the harbour, lies a very sheltered bay, with