0.—5

9

There is about five miles of road now being formed by the County Council, under the oversight of the Chief Surveyor, from Oilman's Town, up the Teremakau Valley, to the Christchurch Road. It runs through some very good timber; and the effect of opening the road will be to start one or two sawmills, and promote the settlement of persons along the line, as well as be advantageous to the homestead and other settlers on both sides of the Teremakau, who will then have direct access to Kumara. As the line is on good grades, it is possible it may become the coach route from Canterbury to Kumara. Otago.- —Beaumont to Miller's Flat.—A line of road up the east bank of the Clutha has long been projected. It has been made from Miller's Flat down to tho Horseshoe Bend, but there are still a few miles in the gorge to be made before connection is complete. Until this is done a very considerable area of excellent pastoral country is completely shut in, and, while it remains in this condition, can only be let in one large run, the lease of which expires in March, 1883. If the road were made the country could be advantageously let in several holdings. It is oilly from thirteen to twenty miles distant from Lawrence. Road to open Run No. 106. —By direction of the Land Board, this run of about 6,000 acres is to be surveyed, in small-sized sections. The land is good, although considerably diversified by gullies and spurs. One of the drawbacks to its settlement is the hilly nature of the road connecting with the railway system at Lawrence or Waitahuna, about ten miles distant. A new line of road, much better in this respect, can be made; and arrangements for taking it partly through private property without compensation have been agreed on, contingent on approval of vote. Road through Gorge to Block X., Benger.—This is to give access to back country on Run No. 200 by a level road, instead of a steep ascent and descent over an intervening ridge. The back country on Run No. 200 is excellent. The present lease expires in March, 1883. Other Roads in Otago and Southland.—Consequent on the disposal of the .3,011,000 acres, there' are 'many points where the expenditure of a few hundred pounds in sidlings, cuttings, and formation, would enable the country to be subdivided in much smaller areas than otherwise; but, until it is finally decided what is to be done with the country, these works need not be particularized. Southland.- —Seaward Country. —Four or five miles of road were made from Woodend Rail-way-station into this hitherto uninhabited country. All the land along the line has been taken up, and there are now eight or nine settlers resident there in their own houses. There is a demand for more land by others, who wish to settle likewise. It is proposed to carry the road through to the beach; when that is done, the road will become the most direct line from Toetoes to Invcrcargill; also to run a trial line through from Bay Bush to a union with the other line near to the beach. This will be a good opening of the country, and a fair commencement in the settlement of 40,000 acres of Crown lands. Coal on Crown Lands. The steam and smithy coal deposits worked at Kawakawa, Brunnerton near Greymouth, and the Waimangaroa, near Westport, are all on Crown lands. The royalty of 6d. a ton on output, and the rents from these mines, amounted to £3,500 last year. This will increase from year to year, as the mines get more developed. In the Waimangaroa basin, the Westport Colliery Company have done a vast deal of work in opening their mine. It is about 2,000 feet above the sea level, and 1,800 feet above the termination of railway line to Westport. The incline tramway connecting the mine level with the railway is a novelty in New Zealand. It is 87 chains long, with grades Ito I'2, 1 to 4, and 1 to 8. The descent of the loaded waggons gives motive-power to pull up the empty ones, and powerful hydraulic brakes on the drums regulates the coiling and uncoiling of the steel wire-ropes, and, consequently, the speed of the wagons. The output is about 100 tons a day, but it will be greatly increased after the mine is properly opened out. At present the workings are in an outlying portion of the field, which it is necessary to tunnel through before the main body of the coal can be reached. The coal deposits are of vast extent and thickness, and have been variously estimated at from 70 to 140 million tons, in the Waimangaroa basin and adjacent country. On the opposite and north side of the Waimangaroa River an incline tramway is being made to the mine of the Koranui Company, which is also situated high up on the mountain side. In these deposits of steam coal in the'North and Middle Islands, the colony has the motivepower of future ocean steam fleets of merchantmen, that will open up trade and rapid communication with foreign markets. Every ton of coal should carry a ton of preserved meat or other produce to Europe. Including brown coal and lignite workings, there are seventy localities in the colony where coal is mined on Crown lands. Interesting statistics of the coal output, both on Crown and private lands, are given in the Mines Report by Mr. W.akefield, this year, from which it appears that, of a total of 299,923 tons raised in the colony, 166,456 tons were from Crown lands, while the output is steadily increasing from year to year, the import is as steadily decreasing, and the time is near when the colony will be self-supporting in coal. 2—C. 5.