1,—6.

I think the river can be, rocro«scdby one span of 160 ft. at a point aboui a mile and a half above the old pa opposite Mangere Creek. There is a small island on tho west side of the river, just above site of bridge. The li;i" would commence to rise af;,er crossing iho river, and. cutting into the i.loprs of the rising ground at the edge of the river-Hats, it might be som. : B()i'i. or UOft. above the river at tho mouth of the Mangere—-a small creek with a deeply-cut bed, which should be, followed up so far as it would serve to take the; place of cutting. There is a flu, with some large sunups in it. emending for a- mile or two bark front the river on this side, and about :WOft. above il. A small Wdge nr-l of this flat forms tho watershed between the Waikato and the Puniu, and the saddle is only 800 ft. above tho former river. Prom tho saddle some careful layiug-out will In: required for two miles, in order to locate tho lino among some gullies at the bead of the Wairaka Creek, which can afterwards bo followed wilhoid difficaltj from 152 miles to its junction with the Puniu. at about 157J miles, There arc some small swmnps to cross, but they can easily be drained. The southern side of the valley is, on the whole, the better ono. Below the junction with the Puniu I should prefer to keep on the northern side, but a few crossings are unavoidable. This river has a shingle-bed, and flows with a moderate fall through a line open \alley well adapt'-d for a lino; and the soil is a rich loam. The line would leave tho bank of tho river near 167 miles, and, rising lor about three miles through some undulating downs, would reach the Te Awamutu terminus at 170 miles. With regard to tiie capabilities of the country generally for supporting a line passing through it, lam afraid I cannot spoak favourably. Tor the first sixteen miles the line passes througn good agricultural country; but; it is already fairly well served with roads leading to the railwaj to Napier. I think improbable that a branch line so far would be a success. For the next ten miles the country is so broken that only a small proportion of it can be considered agricultural laud; and beyond this to C 6 miles tho line passes for forty miles through very rough country, which is coated frequently with pumice, and will apparently only bear very thin stocking. The line will open up about 120,000 acres of similar country belonging to the Crown in Hawke's Bay. For the next eighty miles the line passes I hroogh purely pumice country, which is so sterile that sheop will not thrive oil it, and it in doubtful whether it is capable of being pnt to mij profitable use. Afterwards for ten miles the country would take grass with surf ace-so wing; anil the last fifteen miles of lino run through good agricultural country. In examining the Maori country between Taupo and Te Awamutu, and west of Lake Taupo, I found that Ihe work occupied twice" as much time as it should have done, owing to the dilatory habits of the Natives and the difficulty of moving about anywhere without constant long ndks with them. The country west of bhe Waikato being unsurveyed,l was obliged to employ Maoris us guides. Although several Times ordered to go bn.ck, 1 managed to prosecute my work without any active resistance ; and found that the letters with which I was provided from the Hon. Mr. Bryce to the different chiefs were always "received with great respect. With regard to a possible'combination ol the Waikato line with a central route from the Wanganui JJistrict, I found, on travelling inland round the wost side of Lake Taupo, that the country between the Hurakia Range and the lake consists of high fiats, terminating in precipitous t-lifi'-j from 100 ft. to 3001't. liigli ; ami the country is intersected with enormous ravines, the <-ivek-bedh in which are about 600 ft. below the average level of the country, and eouseememlv no practicable line could be got for railway pur-poses. Along the eastern side of the lake, however, a capital beach line could be constructed at moderate cost, partly by low embankment through shallow swamps, and partly in shallow water under the pumice; clii'ls, but nowhere meeting with any great ddlieuH). A good In c could be got down the Upper Waikato .River from Lake Eotoaira, which is at a level of .I,l'tJOfL, and round tlie southern shore ol this lake, to join with urn practicable lino from the south. In order to iix my position by compass bearings 1 had to ascend several hills which were hitherto tapu, and had not been ascended, by any European — i:ol.iblv the remarkable hill called -" Titiraupenga," the northern summit vi th* llurakia Range : its height is 3,450 ft. 1 h.'ve e;denhi;ed all ib> lew b, ;"■,:■!. herein from barometrical observations carefully taken, a 1 d. m ,■::.,; , -:v*. el- ■~. .1 i;i r; ;. . ■■ 1 1 ■! ■ ;<.■, -. mid they were all corrected by s;multa->eou.'-! observations taken at stations of well-ascertained levels. __Wherever possible the levels were ivienvd to the calculated heights of trig, stations. In concluding my report, I am glad to have the opportunity 0,~ [.banking Mr. Horace Baker, Chief Purveyor ol liawW's Bay, for Ins kind instance, as well as the several station-owners along the line of mv route. My t!i;?nks are aNo ir.'e to Mi^or Scaiuiell. m command ol tile Armed Constabulary at'Taupo, and to the two Maori chiefs, Hitiri Paerata and Rewi, or Manga, of the Ngatimaniapoto. An approximate estimate of the cost of this line of railway, including formation, rails, rolling-slock, and f.uuions, amount!, to .tI.iiOO.GOO. Thec.o.t of kind is not included in this estimate. I have, &c, The, Engineer-in-Chief,'Wellington. Geokgb Pinrpa Williams, M.lnst.C.E.

WESTERN ROUTE. No. 1. ..Mr. E.%rHot,MEH to the Engineek-in-Chikf, Wellington. Ste,— New Plymouth, 26th May, 1884. I have the honour to report as follows on the proposed Uae of railway between Stratford ami its junction with Mi-. Rochfort's line (known as tho cent nil routs), about six miles to the north ol Te Uira. Te Uii'ii is a small Naiivo settlement about four miles in an easterly (tiiociiou from Te Kuiti, and about thirty miles to the south of Te Awarnutu,

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