H.—sa

5

The number of exhibits is somewhat in excess of those at Sydney, as shown by the following : — Sydney. Melbourne. No. Entries 582 No. Entries 640 No. Exhibits 5,453 No. Exhibits 6,500 The available space granted to New Zealand being only 7,800 square feet, as agafnst 11,876 square feet at Sydney. The Court is thus greatly crowded, and the inconvenience thereby occasioned to the public is much increased by the long narrow shape of the Court; nevertheless, it appears to be a source of attraction, and, so far, has been daily thronged by visitors. All accounts have not yet been furnished, but including an estimated amount for freight and insurance the total expenditure incurred by the Commission and Local Committees to date is about £3,200 ; of this amount £1,200 has been expended in Melbourne in fitting up the Court and printing catalogue, and £1,500 expended in New Zealand in procuring exhibits by the Local Committees. I take- this opportunity of acknowledging the valuable assistance I have received from my colleague, Mr. J. H. Blackwood, and the zealous services of Mr. Charles Callis as Secretary to the Commission. James Hectoe, Executive Commissioner.

Enclosure. [Extract from Melbourne Argus, 6th October, 1880.] Bounded on the north by the twin court of Queensland, on the south by the erratic line of South Australia, the New Zealand space in the central annexe extends from the main avenue right back into the east machinery hall — a long narrow strip, some 250 feet by 33 feet. Palmam gui meruit ferat, and to the visitor who comes down the main avenue the best landmark will be the two palms placed at either side of the main entrance, though, if he should be learned in the science of flags, the five-starred blue ensign will be an infallible guide. The front of the court is handsomely draped with light-blue curtains, edged with gold, and the abundance of ferns and other greenery, at the entrance, ought to prove enticing. The Executive Commissioner has with rare good sense avoided any redundancy of ornament which would be out of keeping with the homely —if we may use the expression—nature of his exhibits. The wall-paper has a soft raspberry-cream hue, shaded off by a deeper tint on the moulding. The cases are remarkable, in so far as nearly all of them are made of New Zealand woods, and thus are in a certain sense entitled to rank as exhibits, but, with one gorgeous exception, they are not particuliarly noteworthy for design or grandeur. On the otner hand, a great deal of trouble has been taken by most of the exhibitors to present their wares in a striking and ornamental way. Wherever there is a possibility of contriving a pattern out of anything — from cotton to cheese — it is sure to be done, and this causes many people to give a second glance at an otherwise uninteresting case. Fortunately the New Zealand Court has escaped being hampered by any low roofing, and full play is allowed for the erection of trophies. Thus a huge octahedron, resting on an elevated pedestal, bears witness to the richness of the gold products of the colony. Several other exhibits also tower up towards the roof, the height being an agreeable feature after the low ceiling of Queensland and South Australia on either side. The contents of the court are thoroughly representative of the products of the country. Happily for New Zealand the greater part of the display is made up of material which, if it does not readily lend itself to the purposes of ornamentation, is a much surer sign of the wealth which begets arts and industries; and owing to the different origin and climate of these islands, the court is Australasian without being Australian, by which we mean that the products, though to a certain extent connected with Australia, are yet a little more than kin and less than kind. Here are wool, and gold, and wheat common to Australasia, but Australia has no such variety or beauty of timber as that shown in the New Zealand timber trophy; the phormium tenax does not extend to our shores, and there is a score of other exhibits which it would be impossible to show in an Australian Court. Naturally the same holds good the other way on. Bananas and pineapples do not grow in a temperate zone ; and wine trophies are absent from the New Zealand Court. The contents of the court are too numerous to be dealt with satisfactorily in one article, and therefore the front half alone shall be described on this occasion. The entrance from the central avenue is guarded by a pair of Nikau palms, which, to the unbotanical eye, may seem not unlike fern-trees. Around them ferns have been tastefully grouped, a few choice specimens being kept under glass. The first thing that faces the visitor is a skilfully-contrived semi-circular case containing handsome specimens of alluvial gold and auriferous quartz, and a few remarkable samples of granulated silver, exhibited partly by Government and partly by the Bank of New Zealand. The bank also shows models of ingots of gold and silver as exported, accompanied by a card giving the average composition of alluvial gold from the Southern goldfields, and of gold from quartz found in the Thames district. The former contains -9627 of gold and "0363 of silver, as against the quartz -6565 of gold and .8390 of silver. The case containing these specimens is lined with mirrors, so that the contents are multiplied endlessly, and the visitor who pursues the magic gold round the corner of the case will only get a look at his own face for his trouble. Passing to the wall-table on the Queensland side, the chief attractions are two splendid models of the Eotomahana and Wakatipu, placed—according to the secretary—at the entrance of the court, because the steamers of this company afford almost the only means of reaching New Zealand from this continent. Eunning along the wall further down are models of sections of several of their older steamers, all of which have been built by Messrs. Denny Brothers, of Glasgow. The company also send an emblematic shield specially prepared for the Exhibition, and a chart showing the various routes traversed by their vessels. Turning from these we find nearly all the space as far as the intercolonial passage—a 6 feet