C.—l

87

There are other walking-tracks through the reserve, as the radius-line is tapped all round with roads leading to different parts of the surrounding district. From each road-terminal a track is made; these, however, are only of local interest, and used by settlers and others as occasion requires. The houses built at Egmont, Stratford, and Falls (Manaia route) Tracks have simple accommodation —viz., bunks, mattresses, table and cooking utensils, provided at a nominal charge. From December to April a caretaker, who also acts as a guide, is kept, to supply firewood and water for the visitors. At Egmont and Falls cottages are also provided, at moderate rentals, for visitors desiring greater privacy for themselves and their families. If desired, meals can be supplied to visitors at reasonable rates, thus saving them the trouble of bringing their own provisions, et cetera. Blankets, however, are not provided. Special rooms are set apart for ladies. The air of the mountain is clear, dry, and bracing, giving vigour to any one ; for chest complaints great relief is soon felt; visitors after a few days seem to leave behind them their ills, and, the accommodation and means of access were improved, it would doubtless become a health resort for many who do not take advantage of it on this account. The visitors to the mountain from all sides for the last three seasons have not averaged more than two thousand per season. Falls house has had about half of this aggregate, and this is probably accounted for by the interest the southern people take in the mountain and its environs, as they make the trip an annual excursion, and at the same time induce many of their friends to accompany them. Jas. Mackenzie, Chief Surveyor and Commissioner of Crown Lands.

APPENDIX VII.

LONGITUDE OF NEW ZEALAND (SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS). The Mount Cook Initial Station, Te Aro, Wellington, is the point to which is referred the elements of the surveys of New Zealand. It will be interesting to consider the steps that have been taken at various times to determine the longitude of this point and other stations in New Zealand. We have, first of all, the following particulars as to absolute determinations :—

(1.) Longitudes of Places in New Zealand.

(2.) Longitudes of Places in Australia.

Date. Station. Observers. Method. Longitude. Authority. Old time-ball, Wellington Captain Carkeek .. Lunars, Jupiter's satellites, lunar eclipses, and moon culminations Moon culminations H. m. b. 11 39 17 Parliamentary Paper, 1871, G.-23, p. 4. 1670 Hutt Observatory Mr. H. Jackson 11 39 5073 Supplement New Zealand Gazette, No. 12, 18th February, 1871, p. 11. Supplement New Zealand Gazette, No. 46, 20th May, 1878, p. 635. Transit of Venus, 1874, p. 493. 1869-71 Rookyside Messrs. J. T. Thomson and J. McKerrow Major Palmer Ditto 11 21 59-61 1874-75 Burnham Meridional transits and azimuths of the moon 11 29 13-10

Date. Station. Observers. Method. Longitude. Authority. Sarly Admiralty determination Pert Macquarie H. in. s. 10 4 56 Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. ix., p. 218 (151° 14' 00"). Melbourne Observatory Sydney Observatory Ditto Mr. Bllery 9 39 54-80 Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. vii., p. 50S. Ditto. Mr. Scott 10 4 47'32 .877-78 .. Mr. Russell Moon culminations 10 4 50-81 Report on the Surveys of New Zealand, 1883-84, p. ii. Nautical Almanac, 1902, p. 600. Ditto Messrs. Ellery, Russell, and Todd Telegraphic signal.. 10 4 49-54