.H.—KX

Increase of the Sablit. r> The rapid increase of the rabbit, owing to the favourable circumstances of climate, soil, and shelter, coupled with the absence of natural enemies inimical to its development, clothes the danger of its presence with a palpable significance, seeing that, where climatic influences are not as felicitous, the fecundity of the rabbit is the theme of naturalists. Simultaneousness of Action. Under these circumstances simultaneousness of action on the part of the Government, pastoral tenants, and freeholders would seem to become a necessity : the first, to insure a future benefit in increased rentals on the expiration of the present leases ; the second, to enable them to secure the accumulations of past thrift, industry, and enterprise ; the last, to hand down to posterity an improved and unimpaired estate. VIII. —Conclusion. On looking over this report, before transmission to your Honor, a fear has arisen that the facts we have adduced, and the inferences we have drawn from them, may be regarded as having been too darkly tinted; and yet, on recalling what we personally observed, the conversations which we have held, the accounts which we have been allowed to examine, and when we remember the agreement of converging statements respecting any particular point, we feel we should be doing our informants injustice did we not faithfully record what we have heard, and that we should be doing your Honor and ourselves an injustice did we not submit what we have ourselves seen, and what we believe. That the case is one which causes much anxiety is beyond all doubt; and we feel assured that if the public estate is to be rescued from serious depreciation, and private interests from calamities and losses, in no small measure the results of an outside visitation of at one time an apparently insignificant but now of an extremely serious character, this can only be obtained by the application of a remedy which shall be immediate, compulsory, and universal. J. EICHAEDSON. His Honor the Superintendent, Otago. Walteb H. Peaeson.

APPENDIX. AREA OF RUNS, PROVINCE OF SOUTHLAND.

9

Run. Gross Area. Alienated. Leasehold. Run. Gross Area. Alienated. Leasehold. 112 116 119a 119b 133 135 135a 142 143 143a 143b 146 148 149 150b 153 154 154a 156a1 156a2 150b1 156b2 159 165 166a 166b 173 176a 176b 181 187 188 190 190a 191 Acres. 46,250 26,000 25,000 22,000 11,750 16,120 5,350 2,900 24,000 11,400 11,600 21,150 56,185 22,800 12,800 26,900 23,500 2.4S0 15,000 12,400 11,200 8,200 24,600 19,000 25,200 10,000 40,000 21,270 17,280 65,000 58,000 39,500 20,300 1,080 25,070 Acres. 19,303 16,555 16,535 18,540 4,754 9,861 860 403 4,838 1,347 2,730 12,969 34,330 5,912 6.963 7,382 6,677 1,592 4,360 4,815 9,659 7,220 15,407 8,750 2,419 2,260 820 8,318 Acres. 20,947 9,445 8,465 3,460 6,996 6,259 4,490 2,497 19,162 10,053 8,870 8,181 21,855 16,888 5,837 19,518 16,823 888 10,640 7,585 1,541 980 9,193 10,250 22,781 7,740 39,180 12,952 17,280 23,120 50,088 39,490 19,630 1,080 ' 23,591 191a 195a 195b 198 207 207a 207b 208 214 300b 302 302a 302b 329 352a 352b 394 395 396 417 418 419 Acres. 4,204 26.9S0 16,000 37,000 13,200 6,500 10,950 26,180 29,000 7,800 26,636 6,720 7,200 9,500 30,000 10,000 22,500 3,800 15,000 1,900 4,000 120 Acres. 614 13,150 8,381 1,150 6,023 250 10,120 Acres. 3,590 13,830 7,619 35,850 7,177 6,250 830 26,180 20,196 6,550 24,053 6,622 7,200 9,170 29,570 10,000 21,810 3,800 7,728 1,900 4,000 70 8,804 1,250 2,583 98 330 430 690 7,272 50 Total 415 397 1,096,475 44.640 27,360 500,935 348,725 747,750 1,000 Stewart Island. ;storal counccupied. 41,880 7,912 10 670 279,444 Bush on pa try uno< 1,479 1,948,854 Total area of provinci out of Hundreds.