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removed from their position as members of.the Board, and Joseph Petrie, resigned; and that a notification of these appointments and removals will appear in the next number of the New Zealand Gazette. I have, &c, Lewis H. B. Wilson, The Secretary, Greymouth Harbour Board, Greymouth. Assistant Secretary.

The Assistant Secbetaey, Marine Department, to P. W. Martin, Esq., District Engineer, Greymouth. Sic, — Marine Department, Wellington, 28th March, 1888. I have the honour, by direction of the Minister having charge of this department, to inform you that His Excellency the Governor in Council has been pleased to appoint you to be a member of the Westport and Greymouth Harbour Boards, in place of James Colvin and Eichard Nancarrow, who have been removed from their positions as members of those Boards respectively; and that notifications of these appointments will appear in the next number of the New Zealand Gazette. I have, &c, Francis William Martin, Esq., Lewis H. B. Wilson, District Engineer, Public Works Office, Greymouth. Assistant Secretary.

The Assistant Secbetahy, Marine Department, to Jackson Keddell, Esq., Eesident Magistrate, Greymouth. Sib, — Marine Department, Wellington, 28th March, 1888. I have the honour, by direction of the Minister having charge of this department, to inform you that His Excellency the Governor in Council has been pleased to appoint you to be a member of the Greymouth Harbour Board, in. place of James Kerr, who has been removed from his position as a member of the Board; and that a notification of your appointment will appear in the next number of the New Zealand Gazette. I have, &c, J.ackson Jveddell, Esq., Lewis 11. B. Wilson, Eesident Magistrate, Greymouth, Assistant Secretary. [Similar letters sent same date to William Stone, Esq., District Manager of Eailways, Greymouth, appointed in place of the Hon. H. H. Lahinann ; James Garland Woon, Esq., Collector of Customs, Greymouth, appointed in place of Richard John Seddon ; Hugh Calders, Esq., Postmaster, Greymouth, appointed in place of Daniel Sheedy; William Alfred Barton, Esq., Clerk to the Court, Greymouth, appointed in place of Joseph Petrie, resigned.]

The Assistant Secretary, Marine Department, to J. A.W Wilson,tilson, Esq., Assistant Engineer, Westport. Sib,— Marine Department, Wellington, 28th March, 1888. I have the honour, by direction of the Minister having charge of this department, to inform you that His Excellency the Governor in Council has been pleased to appoint you to be a member of the Greymouth Harbour Board, in place of Arthur Eobert Guinness, who has been removed from his position as a member of that Board, and also to be a member of the Westport Harbour Board, in place of John Fennell, who has been removed from his position as a member of the Board; and that a notification of these appointments will appaar in tha noxt number of the New Zealand Gazette. I have, &c, John Alexander Wilson, Esq., Lewis H. B. Wilson, Assistant Engineer, Public Works Office, Westport. Assistant Secretary.

The Engineeb-in-Chief to the Hon. the Minister for Public Works. (Memorandum.) Public Works Office, 3rd March, 1888. Be Greymouth Harbour Works, and the question raised as to whether they have been carried out in accordance with Sir John Coode's plans. I entered into a full consideration of this question with the Harbour Board's Engineer, Mr. W. H. Scott, who showed me all the progress plans of the different works, and also a letter which had been written and published in one of the local papers, the writer of which made certain statements capable of being proved or disproved by absolute measurements. On the appearance of this letter, Mr. Scott wrote to the Harbour Board drawing attention to it, and explaining that the writer was in error, and that the works were in fact being carried out according to the approved plans. This explanation, however, did not satisfy the writer of the letter, who awaited my arrival in Greymouth, and during the progress of my inquiry called on mo personally to urge the correctness of his statements and the incorrectness of Mr. Scott's explanations. His first reference was to the main or south breakwater, alleging that it was being constructed too high out of water, and quoting a portion of Sir John Coode's report to verify his statement. The quotation is as follows, viz., " Seaward of this point, 1,800 ft., the works would partake of the characrer of a pierre perdue breakwater, running in the same direction for a length of 1,200 ft." In reading the quotation he did not use the words "pierre perdue," but substituted the word " submerged," and, on my asserting my opinion that no such word as " submerged " occurred in Sir John's report, he replied that that was the meaning of the words " pierre perdue," in his opinion. I explained that, whatever these words actually and originally meant, they now were applied to masses of stone thrown down at random, not necessarily all under water, as the term might imply; and a reference to another portion of Sir John's report showed distinctly what he meant, his words being, "the south breakwater, it must be remembered, being well above high water of the highest tides." As a matter of fact, this portion of the breakwater is being constructed about sft. above highest tides, and it may be subject to a little settlement from time to time. The next reference was to the outer end of the north breakwater,