H.—7.

in order to render the collections more intelligible and interesting to the general public, and to give them a practical value, I had printed a full descriptive catalogue of all the objects in the New Zealand Court, in three languages (English, German, aud French), and arranged for convenience of reference in the following manner: — Part I. List of exhibits sent from New Zealand to the Vienna Exhibition. Part 11. List of New Zealand exhibits sent from England to the Vienna Exhibition. To this was added a careful index, and the compilation has proved, I believe, of considerable value, as affording in a convenient form a guide to the Court, and a concise exposition of the various resources and products of the Colony. It was extensively sold and distributed at Vienna, and a number of copies have been circulated also in England and Scotland. It was made an official record by the Royal Commissioners, and became the basis of the Jurors' investigations and awards as regards New Zealand. Apart from the desire to make the New Zealand Court as attractive and instructive as possible, it appeared to me that the opportunity of so large a concourse of people was a favourable one for stimulating emigration; and I accordingly caused Mr. Barclay's " Notes on New Zealand," prepared originally under my own superintendence, to be translated into German, and issued in a convenient pamphlet form. Mr. Bevan states iv his report that from two and a half to three millions of persons must have visited the New Zealand Court from first to last; and as he distributed copies of this pamphlet only among those seeking information about the Colony, charging a nominal price for it, I venture to think that the cost of translating and printing it was money wisely expended, and likely to prove more or less productive. Having completed the arrangements described in the foregoing pages, and consented to act as one of the British Jurors, it may be readily imagined that the inability to attend at the opening of the Exhibition, owing to the state of my health, was a severe disappointment to me. My co-Commissioner, however, Sir Charles Clifford, very readily agreed to undertake the office of representing the Colony on the occasion, and proceeded to Vienna for that purpose at his own expense. He had the distinguished honor of receiving their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales on their visit to the New Zealand Court; and as the representative of the Colony, he met with much attention from His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Austria, and from the civic authorities of Vienna. How well Sir Charles performed the office he had thus generously undertaken, may be inferred from the report of his proceedings which he furnished to the Government on his return to London. Although unable to be present at the opening ceremony, I was enabled at a later period, and when the Exhibition was in a more advanced condition, to visit Vienna, where I remained for nine or ten days; and I was present at the public ceremonial of distributing the prizes and awards. The number of these distinctions which fell to the lot of New Zealand is stated in Mr. Bevan's report, and may be accepted as some evidence of the relative value of her exhibits as compared with those of the other British departments. During my stay in Vienna, I had numerous personal applications for information relative to the New Zealand products, particularly-as to timber, kauri gum, flax, coal, and iron ore. In furnishing information on these various heads, I derived much assistance from the volume published by the Commissioners of the New Zealand Exhibition in 1865, under the title of " Jurors' Reports and Awards," —from Dr. Hector's various Geological Reports, and from the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. The goods manufactured by Mr. Burns at the Mosgicl Woollen Mills, and those exhibited by Webley Brothers, of Nelson, attracted a considerable amount of attention and were much commended, particularly the tweeds, which were pronounced by competent judges to be of very superior quality. The whole of these were sold by the Colonial Agent, for the benefit of the exhibitors, in accordance with my instructions, but I have not yet received an account of the proceeds. As will be seen from Mr. Bevan's report, a large number of samples of the various Native products were given to public institutions, and distributed among persons interested in the Colony. During the continuance of the Exhibition and at its close, I kept Mr. Bevan fully posted with instructions on all points, and especially with reference to the ultimate disposal of the various objects, in terms of instructions I had received from the Colony. As Mr. Bevan has already reported, owing to the very high prices placed by exhibitors on their goods, he was unable to effect many sales. My letter to him of 17th October (copy herewith, Enclosure 3) will explain more in detail the nature of my instructions on this head, and Mr. Bevan's account of sales (not yet received) will show the result. The skeletons of Dinornis sent by Dr. Haast, and likewise his collection of stuffed birds, were handed over to Professor yon Hochstetter at the close of the Exhibition, in accordance with instructions. I may add, that having understood from Dr. Haast that the Government had agreed to defray the cost of articulating these skeletons, and mounting the birds, I paid, on the application of Professor yon Hochstetter, the expense incurred under this head. The returned exhibits (comprising 54 cases) have arrived in London within the last few days, and are at present stored in one of the rooms of this building, which I have hired for the purpose. No time will be lost in distributing the bulk of them, and in shipping those intended for the Colony. The cases containing exhibits marked " Colonial Museum, London," will be retained here, pending further instructions from the Government respecting them.

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