G.—l.

residing, fifty-five of whom were found to be doing so. Of the remaining thirteen, one is dead, three had abandoned their holdings, and three were living on lands within a short distance of their selections, but not contiguous, as the law requires. Revenue. —The territorial revenue received by the Eeceiver of Land Bevenue on Crown land was £14,642 6s. 3d.; on endowments, £5,653 6s. 5d.; to which has to be added £861 9s. 9d. for royalty on timber licenses over forest in the southern part of this district, which passed through the books of the Eeceiver at Hokitika, making the total revenue for the district from all sources £21,157 2s. sd. The arrears of rents amounted to £772 Is. 3d., but £531 10s. of it is on miscellaneous leases of reserves and coal leases, the greater part of it on leases of the foreshore and wharves at the Port of Nelson, which it is hoped to recover shortly. Mines. —The output of coal, and royalty received, from the two working mines held under Land Acts previous to " The Coal-mines Act, 1891," is as follows : —

The railway now being constructed by the Point Elizabeth Coal Company to connect its mines with Greymouth, which is a large work, and includes a bridge over the Grey Eiver, is well advanced, and it is expected that there will be an output from these mines during the year. The working of the coal leases held by Messrs. Hamilton and Smith is also dependent on the construction of this railway. Thomas Humpheies, Commissioner of Crown Lands.

MABLBOBOUGH. Of the area shown as remaining for future disposal —viz., 491,268 acres—an area of 308,300 acres consists of pastoral runs, which I anticipate will shortly be disposed of. Cash Sales. —The area sold amounted to 9,966 acres 1 rood 9 perches, or 2,846 acres more than last year. With one exception, these were all purchases made by lessees under " The Marlborough Waste Lands Act, 1867." Occupation with Right of Purchase. —Only one section was taken up this year. This tenure does not seem to meet with much favour by settlers in this district. Lease in Perpetuity. —Under this tenure 6,783 acres were taken up, inclusive of 4,890 acres of land opened under the Land for Settlements Acts. In addition to the 6,783 acres taken up during the year, 13,064 acres were exchanged from pastoral and other tenures. The total area now held amounts to 53,624 acres. One settler on the Blind Biver Estate forfeited his holding of 122 acres. Occupation Leases under the Mining Districts Land Occupation Act. —In connection with this tenure, an area of 1,292 acres was cut up into eighteen sections, averaging 60 acres each. Two of these sections are situated in the Onamalutu Valley, and the remainder on the right bank of the Wakamarina Biver, about a mile and a half from Canvastown. Of this area, 1,150 acres were within a State forest, and legislation was required to enable the land to be dealt with. The open-ing-up of this land has undoubtedly been a great boon to the miners at the Wakamarina, as it provides them with a little land on which to build homesteads, and run a few stock in conjunction with their mining pursuits. The area taken up amounted to 947 acres, and 284 acres are occupied by roads and reserves for mining timber. By desire of the Warden, a width of 2 chains along the bank of the Wakamarina Biver, and also on each side of all the streams, has been reserved for the use of miners generally. Small Grazing-runs. —During the year 3,033 acres were taken up, and 3,452 acres were surrendered or exchanged for leases in perpetuity, leaving 32,785 acres now held under this tenure, or 419 acres less than last year. Pastoral Licenses. —The figures in this table show transactions of considerable magnitude, the area taken up being 475,161 acres, leases expired 856,964 acres, the surrenders and forfeitures 74,905 acres, and the exchanges 13,090 acres. The expiries consist of leases which have been held for the last twenty-eight years under "The Marlborough Waste Lands Act, 1867." These runs were remodelled and the boundaries made more in accordance with the natural features of the country, and in their new form were offered at auction last February. Of the 534,898 acres brought under the hammer, 226,598 acres were disposed of and 308,300 acres were passed in, the term or the rental not being considered satisfactory by the former lessees. Negotiations for the disposal of the unsold runs are being carried on, and I hope shortly to be able to report the greater part of them as having been taken up. Miscellaneous. —Six timber, ten flax, and five miscellaneous licenses were issued during the year, the area being 843 acres.

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Mines. Output. Boyalfcy. Less Dead-rent. Royalty received. J Buller Coalfields Eeserve— Westport Coal Company — Coalbrookdale Mine Ngakawau Mine Tons. 190,975 20,542 £ s. 4,774 7 513 11 a. 9 8 £ 620 b. d. 0 0 £ s. d. 4,154 7 9 513 11 9 Totals ... 211,517 5,287 19 5 620 0 0 4,667 19 6