GEOLOGY OF OTAGO.
• one farthing pev acre f'V vho first and second years, I one half-penny per acre fix- Hie third and fourth years. > three-farthings per acre fur l.hc fifth and every subse--3 queiit year ; provided that the first year shall be taken , to he the time elapsing from the date of the original > license to the first day of May next following-. 50. No pasturage license shrill he granted for a less , annual fee than £-2 10s. i 51. The fee shall bo paid to the Treasurer of the i Waste Land Board every year, in advance; for the 1 first year on the issue of the license, and for the second 5 and every subsequent year on any sitting day of the Board, between the 20th day of April and the first day of May, inclusive; and every pasturage license not renewed by payment of the required fee, on or before ;• the first day of May, shall, unless good cause to_ the l contrary he shown to the satisfaction of the Waste Lands Board, be considered as abandoned, f 52. Every pasturage license shall be in the form set .• forth in the .Schedule oto the Waste Lauds Hegular tioiis, and shall be transferable by endorsement in the if form set forth in such Schedule, and such transfer shall s be deemed to be complete upon notice thereof being ■f duly given to the Waste Lands Hoard, and not before. v A pasturage licence shall entitle the ho!tlcr thereof to l the exclusive right of pasturage over the land specified - therein upon the terms above stated. Such license I shall be renewed by endorsement from year to year, - until the land specified therein shall he purchased, e granted, or reserved under these regulations; and the r i'ee to be paid in respect of such license shall not be nly tered until the Ist May, 1870. Such license shall give no risrhfc to the soil or to the timber, and shall immedie ately determine over any land which may be purchased, - granted, or reserved under these regulations. A reaII tollable right of way shall be allowed through all pasli turage runs. Oil. If at, any time during-the first four years after e thois^un of the first license the quantity of stock for y the run shall ba less than that originally required, or ii during the next three years less than twice that amount, - or duriuir any sub sequent period less than three times that amount; the Wa-.te Lands Board may declare the ■i, whole or a portion of such run to be ibrfeiied; proi, vided always thiit with regard to runs granted prior to >, tiie is.--.ue of these. Regulations such fiist period of four y years shall commence from the date on which these d Hea-nlntions shall come into operation : provided that e one or more runs held by the same individual or firm may for the purposes of'this clause be considered as one d run. « 54. In any case in which a runholsler can prove to d '.tie satisfaction of the Waste Lands Board that he is Lt precluded by arrangements entered into previous to the pawina- of those res'ulaiions from actually, for a given it period'.' placing his"stock on his own run, it shall be h sufficient if he prove to the satisfaction of the Board e tii-it he possesses within the Province the requisite ;e amount of stock, and will undertake to place the same on the run at the expiration of such peoiol. '° 55. Every holder of a license shall, at any time, upon !.~ a written order from the Waste Lands Board to that II fitl.-ct, make a true and complete return of all the stock n on iiis run; and if he shall wilfully and knowingly ie nsiiko any false return, the Waste Lands Board shall ;" immediately declare his license to be forfeited. ■ r o'o. Every run or portion thereof which shall have > been forfeited, as above provided, sliall be put up by , the Waste Lands Board to public auction, after an adu vertisement in the Govoruineiit Gazette, and one or s more new.- papers of the Province. A license granted l ° after forfeit lire shall be deemed to be an original license. ?t Upon appeal from any person whose run tias been forE0 feited, within 60 days from the date of such forfeiture, '■' it Khali he lawful for the Superintendent lo reserve or :tl suspend such ibrfeiturc either wholly or in part. *e 57. Every person taking ou t a H' ense for a run which je is not, stocked will be required to deposit with the Trea--10 surer the sum of ten shillings for every hundred acres ir included in the license, which will be. returned without I" interest as soon as ho shall have fulfilled the conditions , in respect to stocking the run within t4>e prescribed :Ci period; but if such conditions be not fulfilled such de--10 posits shall be forfeited. "' 58. The above rules in recoct to stocking a run, and )C to tho lodgment of deposit money with .the Treasurer, '•y shall not apply to runs containing less than 5000 acres. ;" 59. Every'holder of a. license may be required at 10 sinv time to pay for the actual co.--; of the survey of -'' his run at a rate not exccedingiiOs. jor every thousand acres. )C 60. Every holder of a pasturage "icensi! shall, upon, application to the Waste Lands Board, be entitled to a pre-emptive right over portions of his run, as fol- '," lows:—l"or a run of not less (han I.OUO acres and not "•' move than 5,000 acres, over a block of laud eompris}e ing and circujlijaeent to his homestead to the extent of"s per cent fi'f the acreage of the run. For a run of 5,000 aercs.-and upwards, over '250 acres of hind comprising anil- circumjacent to his homestead or principal ls station. AndVor'all runs, over all lands occupied by Kl any buildings, enclosures, plantations, cultivations, 31> or any such other improvements as sliall in the.judsr- -'<{ menfoftiK: Waste Lands Board be deemed sufficient 1(1 for the purposes of this clause, together with fifty a acres comprising and circumjacent to the lands so oc'J cupied or improved. ; Gl. Tho License- shall at the time of his application " to the Hoard give a sufficient description of the lands f over which ho" claims such pre-emptive right, to the ::? satisfaction of the Chief Surveyor. And the same , shall be marked off on the authenticated Maps in the Land Office. to 02. The lands included in such pre-emptive right (vj may he of such form as the applicant shall choose ; but any land purchased by him in the exercise of such i_ right shall be subject to the regulations as to form and c irontauo herein contained. ,v 0U The Waste Lands Board shall not receive nor y entertain any application to purchase, from any ,1 persou other than the ruuholdcr, tlie aforesaid block 1U around the homestead or pi-incipal station which does ly not include the whole of such block. ._ 04. The ri^iit. of pre-emption hereby given shall be -. exercised within one week for all lands w'thin twenty [,f miles of the Land Office, at Christe'iurchj and :o within o;ie mouth for all lands at a greater distance o f therefrom; siu:h time bemr reckoned'fr.>m the date ,1 of service of a written notice from the Waste Lands nt Hoard..sotting forth a copy of the application for any „■ of the lands included in the pre-emptive right. Such f. nbticeniay be served either personally "Ji the run<o holder, or by leaving the same at his last-known ■\ c _ place of abode within the Province, or at i lie principal = c homestead or station on the run. (J5. The applicant for any rural hindiiicluded in Ie any pre-emptive right shall deposit with tin; Treasurer ie of the Waste Lands Board a sum equal to 4s. per acre l- of the purchase money, and the remainder he shall pay within one week from the date of hi* application a bring granted, or forfeit such deposit. S'ueh deposit, m howi-ver, shall be immediatelv returned on demand, if the lioiiler of the pre-emptive right shall give notice ■- ,»r ]>U intention to purchase any poriion of the huid :h ti].)p!;t-J lor, and pay the requisite deposit. •H GO. If the holder of the pre-emptive right decide .ft' upon purchasiim- any portion of the land applied for, i(1 he shali forthwith pa'y to the Treasurer of the Waste L:;i)>;- Board a deposit of 4s. per'acre of the purchase iil money of such portion ; and, if he shall not within six Dr ~V i -l.> thcrrafter have paid the remainder of the puri- cha.«e moncv, he shall forfeit, such deposit, together in with ail right or title to the land. If the holder of any pre-emptive right other than 10 tho.-e created by clause 00 of Die Waste Lands lteguir huious shall neglect or refuse to purch:ise any portion lt of the land apnlied for, such portion shall from and immediately after such neglect or refusa; he released 1(1 from all right of pre-emption and open to purchase 111 ou tho terms of these Hegulations, as if the same had '" not been included in any pre-emptive right. ?t 07. Paoturage Licenses with pre-empiivi; right in ': coiitipction with i)iirchased lands, whot.lu.r under the jV Canterbury Association or the Crown, sliall, from and ',; after tli" 'first day of April, one Ihousand eight ':' hundred and fifty-six, be taken and deemed to be pasturage licenses over the lands included therein, upon ih'e terms of these Hegulations, with a preemptive ria-ht over all such land, to be exorcised sublet to theft! Regulations as regards unties; of applica- '" tipn, nayment of deposit, pureluise money, price o Y land,'arid size and shape of blocks. If the land l" covered by such pre-emptive right■ shall uc included ld within the limits of a run held by license under -1" clauses 50 and 03, the holder thereof in paying 11 rent for the sumi; may tako credit for the Miouut paid "' hv him in respect of"lands covered by such prc-enip--50 tive ritrlit. 08. 'Holders of pasturage licenses without pre--111 empfive riHit shall be entitled to hold such licenses or 111 to have them renewed upon the terms of their conrts tract with the Canterbury Association or the Crown, a as the ease may be; but if any person holding a ls license under the Canterbury Association -or the ro Crown shall voluntarily resign the same, he shall be ' j entitled to receive a license under these Regulations, Ie and shall from the date of suc'i exchange hold his run w at the rate and on the conditions specified in these 3V Regulations. 6!). If any person exchanging his license shall tor any period included in the new license have paid rent at a higher rate than would be payable under such "- license"such overpayment shall be adjusted at the next )C payment of rent. - '."' 70. In the event of improvements baying been etl" fected by the licensee of a run on any land which shall be reserved by the General Government or by 50 tho Provincial Government under these Kegulations, l- the liceuseee shall receive payment, of the •e value of such improvement*, such value to be de- *- eided by arbitration under direction of the Waste iu Lands Board, and to be paid by the Treasurer of the Waste Lands Board out of the land fund. lt 71 All payments on account of pasturage runs lt Rhall'in future he made on or before the first, day of L'- May in accordance with clause 51, at. the. Land Office, 11 at. Christehurch, and the Waste Lands Board shall ;- sit at that place for the Treasurer to receive the ' same. i" 72 All payments to be made on account ot pastur- '" a»-e runs before the first day of May next ensuing , shall be made for the portion of the year only which ' shall elapse between such day of payment and the "' said first day of May. '' 73. In calculating the amount of the license fee and P the stock required to be on the run, the year com- „ mencing on the said first day of May shall be deemed . to be tlie same year as that tor which such part pay- ,{ ment shall have been made. , I 74. Notwithstanding anything contained in these emulations, it shall belawful for the Governor, upon i, r l»e recommendation; oi the Superintendent and Pro
I feet wnHMMiua in aliiruiiug tlmt Otago is a most infwsiiiiy' geological field, anil I would congratulate the Provincial geologist, Dr. Hector, on the prospoeM of ust'ilii.n:.s-i, t.h; opportuiiitirs for <ii.-.UMction, vhieh .-'ncii a ik'kt oill-re liiui. I think it. i.i-ohiibie, moreover, tiiiii tlic Uiiiieuiii dbtfriut, tii.il is, .buiimlm, with its vicinity within a radius oi about ton milts, will bo tbuuit geologically, as well as botanically, the luost interesting part of the province—interesting in its variety tspL-rialiy. At all events it is by far'the most interesting part of the province 1 have visited; and I have no hesitation in saying- that if the inhabitants of Dunedin do not cultivate the natural sciences, it is not tor want of abundant and magnificent opportunities. Nor, in point o{ its more physical feature."., its jjicturcsquenc&s, tlie variety and richness of its scenery,—.-.cenery that romiiiils the tourist or emigrant of tlio Tiwaeli*, Loch Katrine, and Loch Lomond of Ilia nitlive land— doca Dnnedin or the Otago harbour yield the palm to any other part of this province, or, perhaps, of any other of the New Zealand provinces. The geological formations of the Duucdiii district are both most interesting; in tliemselves, anil most varied ; tliey may he easily examined by any of you possessed of ordinary pedestrian powers. The higher or hiliy portions of the town bear abundant evidence of the presence of old vulcanic agencies ; there may be seen, in almost any of the cuttings or sections for roadways or building1 sites about, the town, ample evidences of the most extraordinary terrestiiii disturbances —the result mainly of subterranean fires. The hilly parts of the town are "mostly composid of trap-tuife, a substance of very varying' character, which has been originally a volcanic mud or ash, deposited apparently under, and sorted by water. You will find it of all colours, and of ail consistencies; and those of you who are uninitiutfcd, will regard it as a most incomprehensibly, because so variable, rock or substance. It appeal's to be one of these hardened tufts, originally a volcanic mud and consolidated by fire, which is quarried iit Anderson's Bay, and is largely used as a building stone in town under the name of " sandstone." There is much in your trap-tuifs, and in the sulphur minis and ochres they contain, that remind me of what 1 have seen in the most interesting volcanic island of Iceland. Your basalts and allied trapean rocks, are clearly analogous to those of the Edinburgh district, to those of Artiiur's Seat, Salisbury Craigs, and the Gallon Hiil. The columnar basalts or greenstones of Samson's Ribs, of Staffa, and of tiu: Giant's Causeway, find their representatives or analogues in the beautiful columns of Stoneyhill, (which, however, are horizontal, instead of being, sis is more general, perpendicular,) of Green Island Peninsula, and the Forbury. The basalt of Mount Cargill, Saddle Hill, Signal Hill Kange, Flagstaff and Kaikorai Hill ? of the ravine which forms a continuation inland oi Maciaggan-street, Oimefiisi, and many other localities you quarry to use ns road metal, and the bestof ail road metals Yt makes; while an allied rock is quarried in the Bell Hill or Church Hill, Duuedin. for building purposes, one for which this class of iocks is not so well adapted. The peculiar cannon-bell like appearance of the masses of rock in the last named quarry, which I find the subject oi general remark and wonder by the inhabitants of Dunedin, is frequently a characteristic of the basaltic rocks of old Scotland—just as the prismatic or columnar structure is; both being alike due to the circumstances under which the mas? has' cooled from a state of fusion. Your hills all exhibit abundant evidences of glacier action in the immense erratic blocks, which are scattered hi wild profusion over their summits and ridges; and in the boulder clays, which are almost everywhere plentiful in the superficial strata, at a very few inches or feet below the soil, are a testimony of a similar kind. Your alluvial lands—your Taieri Plain and Inch Clutha—exhibit the same structure as the most fertile "carses" of Scotland, such as the Carse of vjlowi-ie. I recognised in the Taieri Plain the same projecting knolls which in the Carse of Gowrie have given rise to such names as Inch-tuve, Inchmichaol, Itich-yra, Inch-hmaim. Nor do they n}>peiir less fertile; at all events 1 do not know that i have seen richer wheat, in the Ciirse of Gowns, that first of all the wheat districts of Scotland, than I have seen but a few weeks ago on Inch Ciulha. Sedimentary fossilift-TOU'-i rocks are well represented in the province generally, as well as in the Duuedin district. The whole of tlie Green island district, by which I do not refer to any of the " districts" of your excellent Survey Office, but to the natural district formed by the range of the Green Island bills —is a mass of fossiliferous, arenaceous limestone, apparently of the age of the English chalk, containing beautiful spotangi or sea urchins, marine shell-!, and tlia to th and spine rays or ichthyoderulitrs o<" fi.hes. The same formation extends through the Ca\ rshr.rn valley ami hills, and penetrates up the valkv of the Knikorai stream towards Flagstaff. What are its limits I have had no opportunity of determining. From this Green Island limestone you derive the Cavcishnm building stones, of which "some of the most substantial and handsome buildings in town are constructed. On the Woodburn property, on the seaward flank of Saddlehill, there is abundance of a Uelemintic limestone, made up of a mass of shells, apparently allied in age to the Green 1.-dand limestone. It remains to be seen what proportion of lime and silica these limestones respectively contain, and how far they are suitable as mortal's; this is a point for the analytical chemist. Other purer limestones, non-fossiliforous, I have met with of limited extent in connection with the lignites of Saddlehill, and in other localities. In almost every part of the province fossiliferous limestones, of great scientific interest, if not a!so of great commercial value, appear to occur; at least, I have had put into my hands specimens from the Mataura Ferry, the Shag- Valley, Oavnaru, and elsewhere. What I may designate tor present purposes, the auriferous system of rocks —those rocks, in other words, which yield gold to the digger—are no less abundant in the neighbourhood of I/uuedin than they appear to be throughout the province. /The rocks in question consist of gneiss and mica slate, witii associated quartz rocks, and chloride and other slates. They are identical with the rocks oft'io same name, which occur in the Grampians and other parts of Sectland. You may see them well sectioned in the cuttings of the new main south-road as it crosses the shoulder of Saddle-hill—that is, between the Green Island and Taieri d'striots. They "crop out" in many of the gullies about the flanks of Saddle-hill, the basaltic eoue of which is surrounded by them. The Chain Hills are made up of them ; iliey meet your gaze constantly in the hills on the left hand side of the main south or'lnvereargiil roan, between Saudle-hill and the ranges that intervene between the Tokomairiro plain and the Clutha river, when trappenu rocks take their place, at least eoastwards ; here arid there they form bold jagged peaks. Nowhere have I seen them so beautifully developed as in the coast at Otokai, beyond Saddle-hill, your future Brighton—where they constitute its bold bluff, or headland of tho adjoining clifls. The whole of the rangas constituting the gold-fields of Tuapeka and Waituhuna, are of the same character. You may study tlie gueisa aud mica slate3, with their qnartziferous veins and interbedded masses, in any of the holes of Gabriel's or Muimie's gullies, or Wethewtoiie's and Waitahima flats, as well as in the flanks of tho sai# ravines or valleys. But you may study them equally well, perhaps better, because more quietly and deliberately, at less expense and inconvenience—with greater comfort and with less danger—without the risk of frightening the poor digger by the suspicion that you are watching his operations with covetous eye, and evil intent —in the glen that runs paralel to the main south road between Abbot's Creek and Saddlehill, on the right hand side of the road, bi-tween it ami the range of the Chain Hills, and immediately behind Mr. Martin's-farm of Fair Field. Here you will find what has been a gold fioldin miniature—what is geologically quite as much a gold field as Gabriel's or Wetlieratone s, Waitalmna, or Waipori. Some portions of this glen or gully, especially the upper portions, are riddle;! with die holes of gold Jiggers, men fresh from the experiences of Tuapska and Waitalmna; and the structure of the strata exhibited, in sitdi sections or sinkings is precisely that oftho g;>ld pita of the more fame:! diggings of the interior. You may there sae the same Jtsriw of clays—yellow, red, and bluo—the same "chopped slate" or slaty debris of a similar diversity of euloi1 -— die so-called gravel of tlie digger— the same "wash dirt"—the same "bottom rock." The surrounding hills have the same configuration, and the same structure as the ranges of Tiripeka, and "Waitahuna. That the slates of this glen are auriferous, there is no doubt; the glan has noi only bsen "prospected," but worked. I havo uiy.'tjlf washed gold from its clays, and have seen spscimctis eolleeted y others. Ths gold here is very fine, sen!/ or granular, generally in more specks; but I ain sold some respectable nuggets were obtu:'iiti.l by digjt.r.s, and some good spseiinens of auriferous quartz we: 3 found in the road cuttings already referred to. The precious metal does not, however, occur bore in such quantity as to enable it to compete with the greatly superior yields of the interior; respectable wages have been made, but nothing more; "good finds" and " piles" have been hitherto uukiiown—in other words, the gold working has not pail, a circumstance by no means peculiar to what may be called the Saddle-ihli. Gold Field, and the field has been deserted for more favored Eldorado*. From all I«iiave seen and hear.l, I balievo the goldbearing- rock-;, the gneiss, mica, slate and quart/rock* above described, to constitute a large port of Otago, especially of its interior mountains. lam lti! to tfiis conclusion partly by such facts as these: —l find the gravel of the Clutha and Tokomairiro rivers omposed of the debris of the rocks just nri ■■■.ed; the i-n.-ue debris is scattered over the tops of ti; ■ rau..vs about the Clutha ferry, ranges which are tin :;• -■ ■'■:■ -i tivippcan ; quartz debris is exceedingly coiniuo .as gravel or conglomerate, in the superficial strata in tin: whole Dunedin district; all which debris I believe to he tl>e r.esult of the disintreg.fl ion of the mountain ranges of the interior, many, ifiiot all, of which I should expect to belong to the nietninorplik: formation or system. Those qunrtz.iferous slaies again have been already ascertained to contain gold in many very distant parts of the province. The inference is natural and legitimate tiiat they will do s<i loss or more wliwovor thfly occur; at nil evfiits oiu; is ju^tiftwl in prospecting _! -'or gold wherever 1m etime-i ujion rocks of ihis fbruiatioa | in Otaso. It is jmpo;sibl(>, iiowever, from a I superficial exurninatiou, to determine the abso'iitu or comparative am-if^roii:: riclincss of any given * tract of inetainorphic slatu country — "to "give an opinion as to where a gold diggings may becotoo payable *r remuasrativo j uotlung; short of
actual expevi'ueul can decide such a point. All surmisss, ojiinioiis. ur reports, then, based on any data short of actual trial by competent persons, and with the aid of proper apparatus, ought to bj received with canii'.-n. My iiui-rns-jion if^strmis thai a large part of Ui;r>is a;;:-iferoii:»; how'i'u'. or to what extent fo, I -iviit"not venture to fay, and I he'ievc further that sn far an (he adjacent previnccs or other parts of New Zealand possesses the same geological structure, pro innto, gold may reasonably be expected there also. — Jioujjh here again it is impossible to predict whether or w what extent the gold fields to be discovered, or that have been discovered in other parts of the inUdle or north island, "will be inferior or superior to those of Ola.;o. The latter point can only be determined by properly organised prospecting parties, which it is manifestly the interest of governments, anxious for the possession of gold fields, to send forth. I would recommend that sucli parties should, were it poasibla. beheaded or accompanied by persons acquainted at at least with tlie general features of geological j-cieuco for reasons of a kind which the following illustrations may indicate. G-eologists know tout gold is always associated with certain groups of rocks —consequently i that certain other groups need not be expected to yield gold. There is no great difficulty in predicting or asserting that the trap rocks of Dunedin will contain no gold, and that diggers need make neither "shallow " nor "deep sinkings" there. ]sutthe uninitiated may be led into fidlacy and error, by the presence of such substances as quartz. I have already stated that the range about tins Clutha are bestrewn with quartz debris or pebbles. These have obviously been brought by the agency of ice or water from the highlands of the Clutha —the great interior mountain chains, aud here deposited on the surface. Thy subjacent rocks «re trappemi, not sehistos. Of the significancy of such facts, or perhaps of the existence of such facts, however, the diggers are unaware apparently. They can say with Caesar, veni vitli —I came .and I saw, but they cannot add vinci —l h.-ive conquered. They have espied the quartz, and they have jumped to the conclusion : Hero is quartz, it is in quartz that gold occurs, it is in the same quartz that it is found at Tuapeka and Wailahuna. The chances are therefore 10 to 1, it will be equally found here. So they sink pits and penetrate the same yellow and blni»fi clays that cover the rocks in every part of the Province" I have visited, but they come upon no slate, they find no gold, they strike upon trap, and they might jjos•sibly sink their pits to the earth's centre without, reaching the strata of which they are in search. I have seen prospecting pits in other situations where a' little knowledge of geology would have prevented the error, the trouble, and the expense of sinking pits, however shallow, in localities where no gold could be reasonably looked for. It is not easy to calculate the amount of time that is frittered, labour ami money uselessly expended under such circumstances by what is virtually geological ignorance and inexperience. I cannot say 1 have met with cases among the Victorian immigrants : a long experience has marie them, so far as gold-bearing strata are concerned, geologists and mineralogists in spite of themselves. But I have met v.'ifcli ludicrous instances among the Otago diggers, who have, in regard to gold working, much yet to learn from their Victorian brethren. " All ii not gold that glitters " is especially truo and worthy of being carefully and constantly borne in mind in those golviou days. I have known (.Hugo setr.jers carefully hoarding up nuggetts of iron pyrites, which :;s common in the metamorphic slato, particularly in clay or common roofing slate, in which they constitute the familiar " slate diamonds," I have found them also in your lignites—for instance, iu that of Abbott's Creek. Not many years ago a gold mania suddenly bestirred douce old Scotland, and there was a "rush" from various parts of the country towards the Lomond Hills in Fife, and other localities reputedly auriferous. I well remember the only trophies of the deluded excursionists were scales ot mica or cubes of the same iron pyrites, both glittering and both gold like, but neither of thorn the genuine article "by a long way." The slightest geological knowledge would have prevented any one looking for gold about the Lomond Hills, which are tr'appean, surrounded partly by the old red sandstone, partly by the carboniferous system. Gold, however, docs really occur in Scotland; at one period as much as £1000,000 worth of gold was collected in tho Lead Hills district, but it was found to exfct in too small a quantity to pav its collection; when the royal works were given up_, and have not been resumed, though gold inay be found there to this day. Gold occii'S also in some of the Welsh rocks, and here its extraction docs pay for the melting of the ores in which it is found pays independently altogether of the gold, which is thus a source of additional profit. These instances are adduced with a view to showing —firstly, that gold may be comparatively abundant, and yet its collection may not be a profitable or remunerative occupation; and secondly, that it may exist in situations where it cannot be collected, as the alluvial gold of Australia and New Zealand is, but where the employment of chemical or mechanical appliances may vield a remunerative occupation.
Perhaps the best proof I can give you that geological information is eagerly sought after, and its want greatly felt by your settlers here is to repeat under this or other heads some of the queries that have haen put io me in the course of my excursions. A host of inquiries, as you may easily conceive, has pointed in the direction of gold. I have repeatedly been asked, for instance, whether a particular piece of land or district of country is likely to contain gold. Some settlers are prompted to such enquiries by ths fond hope that their land may prove auriferous, tlie source of golden returns : tlio majority, however, of land owners fervently wish that their possessions may have no attractions for the prospecting party or digi;e;.'— may noutain none of the "root of all evil," that"they may be left to their flocks and herds in peace and security. A more specific form of the same sort of question is: " Ought Ito sell out" at once, while prices are high and the demand great'! Or should I ' hold on' on ths chance of the discovery of gold or coal, ironstone or limestone, or some other valuable rock or mineral, on my land '<" Such a querist i.s usually keenly on the outlook, like Micawber, for " something to turn up" to his advantage. Fortunately, so far as the probability of finding gol-l is concerned, such queries are generally easily disposed of by any one possessing a modicum of geological knowledge.
Nearly an many queries have been put to mo resrardintj vnnl as regarding gold. What do I think, I am asked, of the Olutha coal, the Saddlehill coal, the Tokomairiro coal, and others of the so-called coals of Olago'J In reply, I regret I cannot regard any of your no-called coal winch [ have seen in the fame favorable light that Government and tho settltrs generally apiiear to do. I say .so now, and frankly, because I fear great disappointment .and very probably great losses in speculation may be the result of exaggerated or erroneous notions oftho value of the coals referred to. There are questions connected with the commercial value of your coals—or let mo call them by what appears to me to be their proper name lignites —(l prefer using the true designation, for reasons immediately to be explained)—with which at pro.ient I have nothing to do> such as their respective distances from Duuedin or other market, the difficulty and cost of transport, the scarcity and expensivenuss oi' labour, and f.o forth, all of which, however, are mutters of moment to speculators and consumers. But i would enter on certain brief explanations as to its geological position and characters. Without going into the strict scientific definition of " what is coal"—<■>. theme of much greater intricacy than you may suppose, and the subject of one of the nio.it interesting suits that has been tried before the Court of Sesbion in Scotland of late years —the celebrated Torbanahill .mineral case it is enough, for present purposes, to say that the substancs w;; at. homo call coal belongs to, or i-< formed in a particular ecological formation or system of rocks called ihe carboniferous or coaUbonriu'g system. The position and the components of this series of strata are well defined; geologists know precisely the rocks above and below. The character of eke iln'sils especially it is—vegetable or animal, which 5 rock contains—a fern found—atMi tooth—a shell—which enable the geologist with certainty to identify strata and at once to fit the system to which they belong. Aud it is fortunate we posses-? such an inflexible, or at nil events accurate index : fur thu mere mineral characters are often utterly insuHicient. For instance, there is a red sandstone above and unother below, ths coal measures the one called the nnm red and the other the old red sandstone, in reference to their comparative ages, alike in regard to mineral characters, that is as to colour and texture. The novice cannot foil the one from the odier, but the Palaeontologist—he who is conversant with tht> fossils which characterise the earth's strata—can at once say which is which. The Hoioftychnii fish scale detfirntiiii's the one to belong to the old red, and thn small Palteonsciiis the other to the new red. Knowing that the geological position of the coal measures is between thrse two series of rocks, ho would never ha so stupid or so rash as to be at the trouble and expense of sinking coal pits through the old red sandstone in the hope of iin>mur coal; while he would do so through the new red with every probability of success, lint look at the position of the land-owner or coal speculator ignorant of these elementary facts in geology. He may ruin himself by sinking shafts through tlie old red sandstone, for a mineral whijh cannot bs found below it; or he may lose a fortune should h'.j mistake the new red for tlie old rod sandstone, by refraining from digging where coal may with every probability be found. This is no hypothetical case ; I have known land - owners sinking shafts for coal through^ the old red sandstone on the Perthshire base o'f the Ochil» in Scotland. I have already quoted the familiar adage —" All is not gold that glitter.*." Neither, may it ba equally" truly added, 13 every rock that is black, coal! Tliere'is) no lack of black roaks iu the earth's crust • many shelves are sufficiently black and carbonaceous : they contain more or less vegetable matter: yet are they not coal nor belonging to tho carboniferous system. The Silurian slates, for example, are frequently very black and carbonaceous; they are so where I have exa:aine.l them in the neighbourhood of Dumfries. Now the Silurian syatsia is inferior in the geological scal-j to the old red sandstone ; and if no cord is v.o hi! found below thu latter, ntil! laas will it h; found bilov/ the furmaf. Led astray by tbj c-Kil-lik-3 aspect of auuh shakvi —having coiifiJeuce in their own jiulgmeat aud cr.iii'.inj ignorant altogether of gejl >gy, too parsimonious) to snoiid a few guiue&i on a survey and report from a mining geologist. I have heard of CumMiKslure lairds milling thsmsalv«s by expeiiKm Im>-
re?^^w;ys^y!v-K.iy'y-iK^3r^-ra^TigE3^*rjn^'-*g^
rings Ur-ough these same Silurian slates. The late Mr'.' Kos-', consulting geologist, Edinburgh, I_ have heard tell many stories of the"same kind ; suilicioutly numsrous instances occur in tho experience of all practical "colonists. Such cases, indeed are the commonest illustrations of ths lons of monn;/ by geolog'cnl ■itfnorniirc. But not only arc such cases frequent at home, they would appear to occur much nearer your own shores: so notoriously .so as have found the following record in the pages of a popular typographical handbook —"Fairfax's Handbook to Australasia, 1807, p. 14, Victoria," — Considerable sums, which might have- been saved by a " very small amount of geological knowledge, and " investigation, have been injudiciously ami fruit- " le.oily expended both in tlie Cape Patteri-ou, Cape " Olway an;! Barraboo! Hills distiieU, in starching " for workable .seams of cnnl." True (•■;:'., then, the coal v.o use as fuel in Scotland and England, belong I to the carboniferous system of geologists. A limited amount of cad, whether properly or improperly, so called, I cannot stop here to enquire, occurs in the oolite formation of Britain —a formation siuperioriugeological scale to tho carboniferous system. Another substance called brown coal or lignite. —usually tho latter. — U pci.uliar to tho tertiary formation —a formation still in-.ird Jve«ent, siill higher iu the geological scale. It hardly occurs to any extent in Britain ; but it is abundant in some paris of Germany, and in Iceland it constitutes the " fturtinbvrnd " of v/h:<:H I liavesecn specimens very like those of the Oi.n;j.' ii,-- j nites. To this class of rocks —to the tertiary Hg- | niten —belong in my opinion, all the so called Otmjo c-.nls I have seen, 1 have traced th". formation of your lignite from the state of siiii'iy decayed wood to'that of the black coal like li.fuir.e, in the Oliffs near the Coal Point at the mouth u{' tho Chitlia ; and I have seen it in process of formation at the pre'-enl day in a '.veil sinking some 40 or 50 feet through the swampy clays of Dunedin. The origiu of thesj lignites seems comparatively recent : they lmvo not been subjected to the same enormous pressure as the carboniferous syslain coal.?, occurring im they do mostly on ar near tho surface ; nor do they seem composed of ihs same materials. Chemically their constitution is not the same : in heat giving, gas-giving, and steam giving power they are greatly inferior to the true coals, with which thov cannot for a moment compete. Should all the coals of Otago belong to the family of the tertiary lignites, I fear you must be prepared to find their value small as compared with the true coals of Scotland or England, or with any similar coals belonging to the carboniferous system. I -,have been asked whether there is no chance of the discover 1) of coal in connection with any of the niiim-rous Otago limestones. This point I am not in a position to determine : it is an interesting problem for solution by your Provincial Geologist.*. Should what is called by geologists the "Mountain limestone'' be found in Otago true co.il may reasonably be looked for. But the limestones I have met with, so far as I can at present venture an opinion, seem of a more recent age and are not of a kind usually associated with coal. JLiywttw you po.?se>:s in abundance; for they are scattered in beds of greater or less extent very generally over the Province. ■ One of thy largest workings of it in the DunciUn district, perhaps in Otago, may be seen at Saddlehill, on Mr. Jeffrey's property o'f Saddlehill Park, on the flank of the hill looking toward the Taieri plain. They crop nut at various points on the slopes or base of this bill, or in its immediate neighbourhood : for instance, between Saddlehill and Serogg's Hill, on the (rovernment coal reserve ; in the gully "in which M'CoH's and Taylor's stations are situate:!, on the soaward aspect of the hill ; and in Abbott's Creek. They are being worked also in the hills between the Tokomairiro plain and the sea, on the slope of the ra/ige which looks towards the plain, and on the coast at the mouth of the Clutha. And it i.s proposed further to work them on the (Joldiirtlds — at Waitahuna and Weatherstone's flats. 3ly remarks must, I think, have sufficiently implied that I would recommend caution in any speculations as to working thojo licrnites—especially under the impression that they are true coals. Should you wish to be more specific, I would point to the circumstances under which the Clutha field is now bjing worked, and to the Waitahuna and AVeatherstone'a fields proposed to be worked In regard to the former I have to express n doubt, whether tho considerable expenditure of capita! indicated by the railway and other appliances, will be followed by adequate returns —especially seeing that lignite apparently of the same kind and quality, in as prreat, perhaps I'Tcater abundance, is to be found within six to eipht miles of Dunedin. In reprard to tho latter, I havo to remark upon the inexpediency of gettinu; up a company, and proceeding1 to work a coal-field that has not born surveyed by "competent persons. 'While on the g'old-fields lately 1 was told, 0:1 what I cannot hut consider the best authority, that a company has been, or is beinjr formed, at. the iH<r^ing-s for tlie purpose ot workincr the lignite ofWaitahmia and "Wetherstone's flats. Enormous profits are expected from its sale among the diggers. The whereabouts of the coal at Wctherstonc's, at all events, and other matters therewith connected, seem to be kept a profound secret, the consequence whereof to me was that though I searched diligently in the locality to which rumour pointed as its site, I failed in finding it. I was informed further, that the extent of the field or senm is unknown ; its value a matter of conjecture— that the locality has neither been visited by a geologist no!'reported upon by any competent authority. So far as 1 could lr-arn fi-ow investigation on the spot, nobo:ly seem? to know anything1 precise regarding this so-called coal, which, as is the case with all latest discoveries is paid to be of the finest coal yet found in Npw Zealand, but which in my humble opinion, is neither hotter nor worse than the lignite of Paddk;h'.'l, tun Ointlw, and many other localities ; and ytit, npparenlly, steps are being taken to work this "coal." Tbi-i is surely n kind of speculation as unsafe as it is unsound. lam far from saying it will necessarily prove unsuccessful or unfortunate, but I do say it deserves to be, if resting on no better basis than that above described.
Puikstly Scaxd.vm ix Fraxcb. —A curious clerical ease is before the Conr d1 Assizes of the Loire Infereiire. Edward Barhier, vic:ir of IltuitzGoulsine, is accused of indecent assaults, with violence, upon two servant-maids. On account of the nature of the details, the Proeureur Imperial asked to have the gallery cleared during the cross-examination, a request which was grunted by the Court. The Gazette ties Trihuiianx publishes two more disgusting eases of the same kind. A monk of the order of the Brethren of the Chris!ism Doctrine, at Saintes, was charged with having violated 25 children, between the ages of six and twelve. He admitted the facts, but pleaded that the infants were consenting parties to bis brutality. He was sentenced to hard labour for life. It was elicited that the children of the neighbouring districts were enticed into the monastery by promises of sound religious instruction, and that "the establishment had been perverted to the most atrocious purposes. Many other miscreant monks liave taken flight to avoid the fate which has fallen upon their accomplice ; but, happily, many others are in the hands of .justice, find now await their trial. A jury acquitted a priest named Barbiere, vicar of Uennes, on the charge of violating two girls in the confessional. 'The Procurcnr Imperial, in delivering the verdict, said, •' Viear Barbiere, the jury have acquitted you of the crime laid to your charge, but the fact of your having been guilty of the grossest indelicacy has been clearly established, and you will therefore go forth a disgraced and dishonored priest." He then ordered the gendarmes to turn the priest out of court. The frequency of these sniindals astonishes those only who lire not aware that under preceding governments all such charges were hushed up, save in such cases as Contrafiilto, the Frere Liotard at Toulon, and others, when tho scandal of concealment would have exceeded the disgrace of publicity.
Dusthucttox of a Fkbnch Ship of Wak.— The French war-ship L'lnfermd was totally destroyed by fire in the harbour of Valparaiso, on Oct. 1. where slir bad arrived on'y two days before. The flames burst forth from between decks in the middle of the day, and (rot such a head that the fire-engines could do no good. Upwards of a hundred cannon shot were fired at the vessel in the hope of sinking her, but, after six h'mrs of useless efforts of all sorts to extinguish the nonflsiijTation, it was decided to set fire to tho powder magazine, and then tho Infernal was blown to atoms in a moment. The explosion shattered a ureat many windows in the town. The loss is estimated at upwards of two millions and a half of francs (£100,000). The value of the Infernal appears to have been much exaggerated. The .-journals now say that, instead of being "a first-class vessel, she was a worn-out coal-'rausport, and not worth, with all her cariro, more tlu.n 200.000 francs. There is a story of Abernethy which illustrates the audacity of self-denying independence, sometimes required "of and exhibited by a man who ultimately makes the world bend to him, instead of himself bending to the world. When Abernethy was canvassing for the office of surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, he called upon a rich grocer, one of the governors. The grower pompously began, " I presume, sir, you want my vote and interest at. this momentous epoch of your lifii ?" Abernethy, who hated humbugs, aud felt nettled at the time, replied, " iNo, I don't; I want a pennyworth of figs. Come, look sharp, and wrap them up, I want to be off.' Most men, if they will candidly reflect what they themselves would have said to the grocer under the circumstances, will admit the superiority of Abernethy. An Irishman, not 100 miles from here, seeing the advertisement stating that, " On and after Oie Ist July next, the public can procure money for postage stamps at all post oftices throughout the -colony," applied at one of the country offices asking for the sum of one shilling, "as be wanted to purchase stamps for two letters ho intended to send to his friends in Cork." — Newcnxtlc Free, Press.
There is li'.iv being exhibited in Cathorinft-street, Dyvmipoi't, Miss Menchain, a native of Bristol. Sh>'. is only eleven years of av;. ;l, and of the following extraordinary dimensions :—Height, 4ft. lO^in.; round the. arms, 19m.; round the che3t, 52in.; round the knee, 2sin.; weight, 2721b5.
11 I--. GULATIONS FOR TUB DISPOSAL, SALK, T.KTTIKC AND OCCUPATION OP TUB WASTE LANDS Ol" THE CRO"W^ T IN THE PROVINCE OF CANTERBURY : AS AJtKXOEIJ. 1. A LL Regulations now in force in the Projt~k. vincc of Canterbury for the sale, letting, disposal, and occupation of the Waste Lands of the Crown are hereby repealed. 2. All such Waste Lands shall, from and after the day on which these Regulations shall come into force, be sold, let, disposed of, and occupied according to these Regulations, and not otherwise. •3. Every Act which the yuperinteudent is hereby authorised'or required to perform he shall perform solely in accordance with the advice of his Executive Council for the time being, and such advice shall be recorded on the minutes of the Council. lI.—THE WASTE IANDS JSOAIiD. 4. There shall be established a Board to bo called the Waste Lands Board, to consist of one Chief Commissioner, and of not less than two nor more than five other Commissioners, aV. of whom (except such one as shall be appointed'to act as Treasurer) shall be appointed and be removable by warrant under the hand of th(3 Superintendent. 5. One member of the Waste Lands Board shall also be tlie Treasurer thereof, and such member shall be appointed and removable by the Governor. G. Thy Wa-te Lauds 13oard"shall sit at the principal Land Office of the Province, at certain stated times to be determined by tlie Superintendent, and shall also sit for special purposes at such places and at such times ns the S>ujieri!ii."ndciit shall direct; of which sittings due not ice shall be given in the Provincial Government Gazette, and one or more newspapers published in tlie Province. t_. 7. The Chief Commissioner when present, and in his absence then some member selected by those present at any meeting of the Board, shall preside thereat, and shall have a casting vote in a!l questions coming before the; Board. 8. All questions coming before the Board shall be decided by a majority of the Commissioners present thereat. i). All meetimrs of I lie Board shnll be attended by at least three Commissioners, and shall be open to the public. 10. All applications for Land and for Pasturage and for Timber Licenses shall, after hearing evidence when necessary, be determined by the Board at some sitting- thereof. 11. The Board shall have power to hear and determine nil disputes between the holders of Pasturage and Timber Licenses respecting the boundaries of runs and districts, and shall have and exercise all the powers which mav be lawfully had and exercised by any Commissioner of Crown Lands, under the provisions of the '"' Crown Lands Ordinance, Sess. X., No. 1 ;" and the "Crown Lands Extension Ordinance, Sess. XI.. A'o. 10." 12. All'the routine business of th- Land Department shail be transacted by the Chief Commissioner, sub]ect to such regulations as may be made by the Board in that behalf. 13. A book to be ca'lcd the "Application Book" shall be kept open durino.1 ciiiec hours nt the Land Oftiee, in which the name^of every person desiring to make any application to the I-Inan.l shall lie written in order by himself or any pi.-rson duly authorised on his behalf. And the Commissioners shall, during the sittintr of the Board, consider and dpfermine all application's hi the order in which they shall appear in the application book. Provided that if any person shall not appear himself or by some person duly authorised on his behalf before tlie Board when called in bis tura, his app j.\ition shall be dismissed until his name shall appear again in the Book in order. Provided also that if tw'o or more p'rsuns shall apply at the same time to write tin.:'- names in the Application Book the Chief Co!i>mis.voiier shr.ll bracket, their names, and shall initial the bracket,; and when they shall appear before the Board, the Board shall determine the priority of right to be bard by lot. And it shall not be lawful for the Board to hear any application except such as shall be made in accordance with this regulation. 14. The Board shall keep true and detailed minutes of all applications made to the Board, and all decisions thereon, and of all sums of money paid to the Treasurer, and generally of all the proceedings of the Board; and such minutes shall be sigi.-d by all the Commissioners present at any meeting. And such minutes shall be open to the inspection of all persons desiring to inspect the same, nfall reasonable hours, on payment of the sum of r.vo shillings and sixpence for every such inspection. lII.—SIJKV-KYS. 15. There shall be a Chief Surveyor who shall bo appointed and removable by Warrant under the hand of the Superintendent, ami ns many) =sistant Surveyors as shnll be necessary, who shall in: appointed and remove-able by the Superintendent upon the recommendation of the Chief Surveyor. 16. All survevs shall be conducted in such manner as the Board by any regulations to be made in that behalf shall direct. " IV.—TIIK LASD KEVENU33. 17. All payments to be made in respect of land shall be made to the Treasurer of the Board during the sitting thereof, and the Treasurer shall thereupon give receipt.-; for the same. 18.—By the CJnd clause, of the Constitution Act the Governor is authorised and remiived to pay out o the revenue arising from the disposal of the Waste Lauds of the Crown all the costs, charges, and expenses incident to the collection, management, and receipt thereof; and also to pay out of the said revenues such sums iis shall become payable under certain other provisions therein continued. The Treasurer of the Waste Lands Board shall, therefore, pay out of al! the funds coming into his hands under these regulations all such sums for the above-mimed purposes, in such manner and to such persons as the Governor shall direct. V: —PUBLTC HESEKVES. 19. Reserves for the uses of the Provincial Government and for.other public purposes may, upon the recommendation of the Provincial Council, be made by the Superintendent; and shall not be alienated from the specific purposes to which they shall have been severally dedicated, except under the provisions of an Act of the General Assembly, ■ {intituled tiie " Public Reserves Act, 1854;" and a full and complete description of every such reserve and of the purposes to which it shall have been dedicated shall, as soon as possible after it shall have been made, be published in tiie Government G/izcttc of ihe Province, and set forth on the. authenticated maps in the Laud Office. Provided that the Superintendent may, if the Provincial Council be not then sit ting, temporarily reserve land for such purposes until the next session of such Council. | 120. Reserves for public highways, bridle-paths, and foot-paths, shall be iniidc by' the Superintendent, and shall be set forth on tiie authenticated maps in the Land Office. Tlie Superintendent and the Provincial Council may by Ordinance alter tin: line of any such highways, bridle-paths, and foot-paths, and dispose of the land theretofore used for the same. 21. The Superintendent may temporarily reserve any land for the preservation or side cf the timber thereon; but such land may at any time cease to be so reserved upon a resolution of tlie Provincial Council. 22. The Superintendent may, upon t!ie recommendation of the Provincial Council, by proclamation in the Government Gazette, reserve, from the operation of these.regulations any tract of country in which the precious metals may be* found to exist: and tlie land within such tract of country shall he disposed of according to regulations hereafter to lie issued and published in that behalf; in the same manner and under the same authority as these present regulations. VI. —TOWN LANDS. 23. The sites of towns shall bo determined by th'e Superintendent, upon the recommendation of the Provincial Council, and shall be notified bv proclamation in the Government Gazette- of the Province. 24. Town Lands shall be sold by public auction, iu sections, the size and upset price of which shall bo determined by the Superintendent and the Provincial Council; and having been so determined, for each town severally, shall not. again be altered. 25. The time and place of every auction sale shall be fixed by the Superintendent, and shall be notified in the Government Gazette, and one or more newspapers of the Province, at least thirty days before »uch sale shall take place. 20. No such notification of any sale of town lands shall be published until a map of the town, signed by the Chief Surveyor, shall have been laid open for public inspection in the Land Office; and such map shall set forth, accurately delineated, all the town sections numbered consecutively, so far as laid out, showing the sections to be submitted for sale, and the j public reserves in connection with them. 27.' Town sections may be put up to auction, cither by order of the Superintendent, or upon the application ol some person who shall, at the time of making Buch application, deposit ten per cent, of the upset price with the Treasurer of tlie Waste Lands Board. Buch deposits shall, if no advance on the upset price Ae made, be considered as the deposit upon the sale at such public auction. 28. If any section shall be purchased by other than the original applicant, the deposit money shall be forthwith returned on demand. • 2!). Toil days at least before any such auction sale, a list of all the sections about to be offered for sale diall be published in the Government Gazette, and one or more newspapers of the Province. 30. Every auction sale of land shall he held by the Commissioners in open court sis hereinbefore pro31* Tlie person who shall be declared the highest hider at such auction shall immediately pay a deposit often per cent, of the purchase money to the lreasuror,and in default thereof, the section snail be again immediately put up to auction, paid to the Troasurer in full, within one week after 82. The remainder of the purchase money shall be
the day of sale; ami, in default thereof, the pur cliase "shall forfoit his deposit money, and also al rhrht or title to the land; and the section maybe sold to any person applying fov the same for the price at which it was knocked down at the auction ; and, if not so sold, the section may be again put up to . auction at anv future salt.l. 03. Upon payment of the purchase money m full, the purchaser skull receive from the Commissioners a " License to Occupy," in the fan set forth in Schedule A to the "Waste Lands Regulations, and such License shall be restored to the Commissioners . upon receipt of a Crown Grant of the land purchased. > VII.—IUJRAL LAND. 34. All lands nut included in any of the foregoing regulations shall he open for sale as rural land, at an ; uniform price of forty shillings per acre. > 35. Save os hereinafter provided, no section ot 1 Bural Laud shall he sold, containing- less than twenty acres; but anv section so limited by frontage lines or ' private hinds as to contain less than twenty acres may Ibe sold by auction at the upset: price of forty shillings ; per acre ; the th.ie and place of sale, and the mode ot ■ sale, and payment, of purchase money to ho as nearly as may he in accordance with the regulations herein contained applicable to the sale of Town Land. Provided, nevertheless, that if any section so limited 1 sliviu he included in a Pasturage License wUh Pre- ' empfive Risht. fho holder of such License sluill be - entitled to exercise such Pre-emptive Right under " these Regulations upon payment of the sum of forty ' pounds for sucli section. 1 30. Every section of rural land shall be m one , block, and, 'except as hereinafter provided, ofarect- ; nmrular form, an'd if bounded by a frontage line, slmll Ibe 'of a depth of half a mile (or <i0 chains) from, such , frontnue. Note.—A frontage line shall be taken to mean the f boundary of a road", rive:-, or public reserve, or any stream or watercourse which shall have been declared Iby notification in the Govei'iinicut Gazette to consti- } tiite a froutas-t: for tlie purpose of soled ion. ; "7. Where, from tiu; frontage not being a straight s line ov from the interference of other front age lilies, natural features, or the boundaries of private lands, 1 the above rules in respect of form cannot be accurately " observed, the form of the section shall be detennined " as nearly in accordance with these ru'es as, in the s judgment of the Hoard, circumstances will admit. tfe. In sections of lands not adjacent to or hounded c by a front lure line. all f lie sides may be equal, but one I side may not. ha less than one-third of the other; mid such section shall not. lie less than half a mile distant from a tVontanv line. . c 39. Any person possessing a section of land may at anv time" select another adjacent thereto, of such 0 io.'in that the two together, being considered as one '; section, shall be in the form required for a single e section under the foregoing rules. 40. Immediately on the payment of the purchase " money, the purchaser shad receive from the Cominis- " signers a " License to Occupy," in the form set forth .? in the Schedule 15 hereunto annexed; and as soon thereafter as conveniently may be, the land shall be " laid off by a Government Surveyor, as nearly in ae- " cordanco"with the description given by the purchaser '' in his application as these regulations will admit; •' provided'that whenever the lauds selected lie without fho surveyed districts, tile expense of the survey and " of connecting such survey with th:> existing surveys "' shall be borne by the purchaser, who shall at the time '■' of purchase deposit the amount of the estimated cost „ of such purveys with the Treasurer of the Waste Lands Board, which shall be made as soon as practicab'c, by order of tin; Chief Surveyor. Provided 0 nlway«,"that should any section when surveyed prove II to differ iu any respect from that, intended by the 11 purchaser, the "Government will not be responsible e for any loss or inconvenience which the purchaser " may experience, nor will tiie purchase money be re.cj tu-ned. Provided also, that, if the Surveyor shall ', find that the whole extent of laud in the selected " locality falls short of the quantity paid to? by the s purchaser, the Treasurer shall repay so much of the 1 purchase money as exceeds the price of the land to be fl conveyed. Tlie "License to Occupy" slinil,'in any e such case, he amended by the Commissioners, in ac--11 cordnnce with the report of the Surveyor, and the r Crown Grant, shall be made out in accordance y therewith; and the "License" shall be returned to 7 the Commissioners when the Crown Grant shall be " issued. ." 41. Any person making a ditch and bank fence to lands adjoining Waste Lands of the Crown may take out of such lands half the land required for the ditch ' s and bank: provided that no ditch or bank shall be ls more than six feet in width. 10 VIII. —COMPENSATION LANDS. :,° 42. Whereas it is desirable that private persons should he enabled to receive portions of Waste Land ' s in oxchunsro for private hinds taken for roads or for '', other public purposes; if any person, slmll be entitled ro receive any compensation in respect of any land which shall.have been taken for the purposes of a road or of any other public work, or in respect of any damages done to his property by tlie taking of such "j land for sucii purposes, such person shall, upon appli!l calion io the Waste Lands Board, be entitled to a '" u-rant of rural land in such .situation as he shall select, subject to the conditions as to form and frontage in '■' these regulations contained, to the extent of one acre for every two pounds sterling of the amount: of com'V pensation which tise applicant shall be entitled to receive in respect of the land taken for such purposes or.'in respect of such damage as aforesaid. 43. If any person shall contract with the Superin--11 ter.dwit to 'make and complete, within a given time, e :my public road, bridge, or drain, or any part of any n sueh road, bridge, or drain, furnishing1 si-cli security as the Superintendent may require for the due com■t pletion of such coulract. and shnll select such portion ,of rural land i\~ he shall be willing to'accept by way e of payment or co-npciuation, or by way of part payment or compensation for such work ; it. shall be lawL j ful for the Superintendent to reserve sueh portion of , s laud from public sale for Mich given time but no , s longer; and sue!i per.-oii shall, on the completion of if such contract, be enlitled to a free erant of such land, |j or so much thereof us tlie Hoard shall adjudge, not "_ exceeding one acre ibr every two pound..1 sterlirg n wi ich the Superintendent shall certify Io the Waste r Lands Board to lie the bond fide value of tlia work so doiiu by such person according to the prices for work au<i materials at the time of performing1 such coutracr. current in the district. Every such reservation of land from public sale e shall be" published in the.Government Gazelle of the ~ .Province, as directed i:: clause l!) of these Regulud tions. u IS ro such reservation shall continue in force tor a s lower period than twelve calendar months from the 0 date on which it shall have been made. No land included in a Pasturage License with Pree emptive Itiirlit shall, vs. affainst" the holder of such 1 Pre-emptive Right, be so reserved or granted until e he shall have been allowed tlie option of purchasing •, Kiich land in tiie manner prescriiied in clauses 04 and d (iG to those Regulations. if No '-renter amount of land than 2">o acres shall y under the provisions of this clause be reserved or ii granted to any person under any sueh contract, unless in payment'of work for which a vote has been (I passed by"the Provincial Council, rt ?fo greater amount of land than 1000 acres in the e isffi.rregate shall, in any one year, he reserved or ii uTiinted under tiis provUioiis of1 this clause, without h tii!1 special sanction of the Provincial Council. >f Provided always that, every parcel of land so granted iihiiil he subjected to the same conditions as to form e and frontage as any rural land «>ld under these Ret 'rulatams;'provided also that no application for less 0 than 20 acres shall lie received under this clause, but ii that where anv amount of compensation awarded by the Boiwd shaft be of less extent than 20 acres of land, - tin- person entitled may pay the balance in cash upon n the same terms as other 'applicants for the purchase - of rural lands under these Regulations. 1 IX. —NAVAL AND MILITAJIY BOUNTIES. >*' 44. Wherer.s the Superintendent and the Provinl! cini Council aud othor'the inhabitant c.f Canterhury ■!' are desirous to aid in makiug provi ion for the mainI tci.ance of .•■.uch jiersons of Her Majesty's land and sea forces as may be discharged as unfit for further soi vice in consequence of wounds or loss of health e incurred in the present war with Russia, and also for c the maintenance of the widows of those who may be . killed in such war: — Any such person or wiiiow shall, upon application ij to Hid Waste Lands Board, and upon the production ■c of satisfactory evidence from the proper authorities as ,1 to such discharge or death, ho entitled to receive a h free grant not exceeding .'SO acres of the Waste Lands ■wi.-hin this Province, suhjict to the conditions as to II form and frontage contained in these Regulations; d provided always that such application shall be made :. to the Waste Lands1 Board by such person or widow •e in uerson within three vears after such discharge or death. 's ' X. —PASTUIIAUE. ir 45. Until sold, granted, or reserved for public purp jHttis iw herein provided, tiie Waste Lauds maybe n occupied for pasturage purposes hy persons holding1 t, licenses from the \Y;isto Lauds Board to occupy the ,e sar.io. 40. Any person applying for a pasturaue license :r sln.ll stiite to the Commissioners what are the bouu- .- daiies and extent of the run applied for, and the g number and description of the stock which he posit senses, or will undertake to place upon the run within I. twelve months from the date of the license, e 47. The extent of run allowed to each applicant t shi.il be at, the rate of 120 acres to every head of great catile, and '20 acre: to every head of small cattle, n Tli • words " great cattle" shall be construed to mean e homed cattle, horses, mules, and asses, male and feinr.!e, with their otispring above six months of age ; ; ami the words "small cattle" shall be construed to e mean" sheep, male and female, with their weaned oif:1 spi ;Tig--4s. Every pasturage run shall be in one block, and, e as ar as circumstances will admit, of a rectangular - form: the frontage, under ordinary circumstances, sh;:ll not be.greatcr than one-half the depth. t id. Tiie fee to he paid for tlie license shall be at the t following rates: —For every run containing less than . 10(0 acres, twenty shillings for every hundred acres; i ibr every run containing 1000 acres, and not less than SCCO aciss, two-ponce per acre for the first thousand » and one penny per acre for every acre in addition. For every run containing 5000 acres or upwards,
viucial Counil, at any time, ami from time to time, by proclamation in the Government Gazette of the ■ Province, to reserve for the purposes hereinafter mentioned any lauds within the Province, adjacent to ior in the neighbourhood of any town, now or which may hereafter he formed, and to declare that on and i from a day to be named in such proclamation all depasturing1' licenses issued under these regulations, in ! respect of such reserved lands, shall cease and be of ;no effect; on and from which day, all such licenses I shall, as respects such lands, cease and be of no effect ! accordingly. And it shall be lawful for the Governor 'at any time, hereafter, by regulations to be issued in t that behalf, according to the provisions of the Waste ! Lands Act, upon the recommendation of the Super- ! intendent. and Provincial Council, to regulate the ; occupation of the Waste Lands of the Crown within such reserved districts. t timber.----75. If any tract, of laud shall have been reserved for j the sale of the timber thereon, such timber may be ~ sold by public unction at an upset price and subject 'to conditions to be iixed by the Superintendent, and j the purchaser shall agree to remove the same within 1 a certain time; and ali the timber not. removed within -, such time may be again put up to public auction. 75. No person shall, without a license, cut or re- ' move any timber from any Waste Lands of the Crown ' (except timber which he shall have purchased under '_ the last clause) ; and any persons so cutting or re- " moving timber shall be liable to pay the cost of such I license for one year together with the costs of recovering the amount of the same. I 77. Every license for cutting- or removing timber shall be issued for one month, or for one year, at the request of the person applying for the same; and a ~ fee of lOs. shall bo paid upon every monthly license, [. and of £5 upon every yearly license. r 78. A license shall entitle no one but the person named therein to cut down standing timber, but it 3 will authorise him to employ any number of persons, t . during the term of the license, to saw, split, or remove the timber so cut; and such license shall not be u transferable. ~ 79. A license to cut timber shall extend only to the e district named therein. t 80. If any person duly licensed shall have established n a saw-pit for the purpose of sowing timber, no other e person shall cut timber within 50 yards of such pit without consent of the person first occupying such 0 saw-pit; provided that if the person establishing such is pit shall not use the same, and shall not cut timber e within such distance as aforesaid from the pit for 28 n consecutive days, it, shall be lawful for any other holder ,e of a license to enter thereupon, and to cut'timber as (j though such pit had not been established. e 81. ■If any person shall, for the purpose of removing c timber, have made a road upon land being the Waste Lands of the Crown and not being a highway, it shall not be lawful for any other person to use the same II without the permission of the person making the same V- first obtained ; provided that if such road shall not u he used at any time for 90 consecutive days, it shall X be lawful for any holder of a license at any time thereafter to use the same. 82. If any person holding a timber license shall be 1 proved before, the Waste Lands Board to have y offended against any regulations herein contained re- " specting timber, or to have wilfully or negligently in- ",' ured or destroyed by fire or otherwise any timber belonuing to the Crown, such license shall be, and shall 3" be immediately declared to be forfeited, and it shall be '~ ai the discretion of the Uoard to refuse to issue another '', timber license to the same person. h SCHEDULES. ; S SCIIIiDUI-E A. it Province *) >s of \ d Canterbury. ) !- IjICKNSB TO OCCUPY TOWN LANDS. (1 Whereas of hath been duly dei'j clared the purchaser for the sum of pounds, s. shillings, and pence, of the section of if the Witste Lands of the Crown hereinafter described, rf and hath this day paid to the Treasurer of the ■d Waste Lands Board of the Province of Canterbury, the said sum of pounds. shillings, and u. pence, the receipt whereof is hereby acknow--0 ledsed, Now know all men and these I- presents witness, that We, in pursuance of the 't powers vested in us a? Commissioners of the said >- Waste Lands Hoard, do hereby anthori.se mid empower it the said his heirs or assigns, at any time after rf the date hereof, to enter upon ail that section of land '- situated in street, in the town of ill marked, No. in the authenticated map of the '.Y said town in the Crown Lands Ofiice and containing s, acres, or thereabouts, being the section of '- land so purchased as aforesaid, and to hold and enjoy l(: the same for his and their absolute use and benefit. y Given under our hands at the sitting ;' of the Waste Lands Board held at on the n " day ot 18 io le . Schedule B. h Province } d of \ Canterbury. ) "' LICENSE TO OCCUPy HURAL LAND. k Wiiekeas of hath been duly deB c'ared the purchaser for the sum of pounds, shillings, and pence, of the section of >e Hie Waste Lands of the Crown hereinafter described, v and hath this day paid to the Treasurer of the ■d Waste Lands Board of the Province of Canterbury, « the said sum of pound?, shillings and fe pence, the receipt whereof is hereby aeknowls leilged, Now' know all men and these y presents witness, that We, in pursuance of the h power* vested in us as Commissioners of the said l- Waste Lands Board, do hereby authorise and empower n the said his heirs or assigns, at any time after ill the date hereof, to enter upon all that section of land situate and bounded as hereinafter described, that is to n s«y ; and to hold and to enjoy the same for ;r his and their absolute use and benefit, subject never•e tbeless to the Regulations now in force for the sale, li lei ting1, disposal, and occupation of the Waste Lands n of the Crown within the Province of Canterbury. \' Given under our hands at the sitting '' uf tiu Waste Lauds Board, held :<r at ou the ci day of 18 le ' r, :,e ie x Schedule C. ." Province ) ■ of \ Canterbury. ) [- LICENSI3 TO DEPASTURE STOCK. d Wiiekeas of hath been duly de:d clared to be entitled to a license to depasture stock •-c upon the Waste Lands of the Crown within the Pro.d vince of Canterbury, upon the terms and upon the conditions hereinafter mentioned : Now therefore We, n in pursuance of the powers vested in us as Commis,e skmcrs of the Waste Lands Board to the said Pro(I vince, do hereby grant to t lie said !t the exclusive license, from and after the date hereof, , c until the first day of May next, to depasture stock ! ui)on the land situate and bounded as hereinafter ,1 described, that is to say— and containing \_ acres or thereabouts. Subject neyeril theless to all the provisions and conditions contained H in the Waste Lands Regulations now in force within d the Province of Canterbury. (1 Given under our hands at the sitting r !1" of the Waste Lauds Board, held g at on the (' day of 18 i- " >r i, Endorsement. " I, the within-named for valuable consideraIP tion to me paid by of do hereby 10 transfer to the said " the within written *\ Pasturage License, and all my estate and interest " therein. Witness my hand this day ot 18 "' Witness \ APPENDIX I. Clauses 35 and 43, which were repealed by the "_ Waste Lands Regulations Amendment Ordih nance, Sess. VII., JVo. 2, 1836, originally y stood as follows: — '> 35. No section of rural land shall be sold containing ■ e less than twenty acres; provided that any section so !" limited by frontage lines or private lands as to cone tain less than twenty acres may bo sold by auction at. c the upsat price of forty shillings per acre; the time and place of sale, and the mode of sale and payment f of purchase money to be as nearly as may be in , accordance with the regulations herein contained, ;| applicable to the sale of Town Land. J 43. If any person shall at any time have made and L completed at his own cost any public road or bridge 'or any public main drain, or any part of such roan, " bridge, or drain, such person shall, upon application to the .Waste Lands Board, be entitled to a free grant '' of rural laud in such situation as he shall select, subc ject to the conditions as to form and frontage in these rua-ulatkms contained, to such an extent as the 1 Board shall adjudge, not exceeding one acre for every - four pounds sterling which he shall prove to the 1 satisfaction of the Waste Lands Board that lie shall - have actually expended in the construction of such road, bvid.e," or drain. ProvV-i always that it shall be proved- to the i satisfaction of tiie Board that the money so expended >by the applicant has been beneficially expended for
he usfl and ndvautajye of the public:. Provided ai.<o liat no application tin- less than twenty acres shall be received under this clans.;, but that where any amount oi'compensation awarded by the Board shall be of a less amount than twenty acres of land, the party entitled may pay the balance in cash upon the same terms as other applicants to purchase rural lauds under those regulations. Clauses 07 and US, which were repealed by proclamation of the Governor, dated Uth Aui/itxt, 1850, published in, the Provincial Government Gazette, Vol.. 111., No. 17, p. 03, 4th Sep-
tuinbur, ISS(J, oriiiinally afood as follows: —
07. Holders of pasturage licenses with pre-emptive right in connection with purchased lands, whether under the Canterbury Association or the Crown, shall be entitled to claim pasturage licenses over the lands included therein upon the terms of these regulations, with a pre-emptive right over such land, to ue exercised subject to these regulations as regards notice of application, payment of deposit and purchase money, price of laud, and size and shape of blocks. If tins land covered by such pre-emptive right shall be included witiiin the limits of a run held by license under clauses 50 and 53, the holder thereof, ou paying rent for the same, may take credit for the amount paid by him in respect of lauds covered by such pre-emptive right.
08. iS'othiiig in these Regulations shall be interpreted to ali'eet the legal rights or equitable contracts made by the Canterbury Association or the Government with holders of tiie pasturage licenses; but if any person holding a license under the Canterbury Association or tlie Government, shall voluntarily lvsign the same to the Government, he shall be entitled to receive a license under these Regulations, and shall from the date of such exchange hold his run at the race and on the conditions specified in these Regulations. APPENDIX 11. Clauses JVos. 33, 51, 52, 05, GG, a/id 71, which ivere repealed by the " 'I asto Lunds Regulation Amendment Ordinance, Sess. IX., No. 1," oriijinally stood as follows : — 83. Immediately on the payment of the purchase money in full, the purchaser shall receive from the Commissioners a " License to Occupy," in the form set forth in il«! Schedule A hereto annexed, which he shall return again to the Commissioners when lie shall receive the Crown Grant of the Land. Such "License to "Occupy" shall be transferable by endorsement, in the form set forth in the Schedule. 51. The fee shall be paid to the Treasurer the a Waste Lands Board every year, in advance; for the first year on the issue of the License, and for tlie.a second and every subsequent year on the first day of May; and every pasturage license not renewed by payment of the required fee on the first day of May shall, unless good cause to the contrary be shown to the satisfaction of the Waste Lauds Board, be considered as bandfooned.
52.- Every pasturage license shall be in the form set forth in the Schedule C hereto annexed, and shall be transferable by endorsement in the form set forth in the Schedule; "and shall entitle the holder to the exclusive right of pasturage over the lands specified therein, upon the terms above stated. It is intended that such license shall be renewable from year to year until the land specified therein shall be purchased, granted, or reserved, under these Regulations; and, if so renewed, the fee to be paid in respect of such licenses shall not be altered until the tii-st of May, 1870. Such license shall give no rig-lit to the soil or to the timber, and shall immediately determine over any land which may be purchased, g-rantei!, or reserved under these Regulations. A reasonable right of way shall be allowed through all pasturage runs.
05. The applicant for any rural land included in any pre-emptive right shall deposit with the Treasurer of the Waste Lands Board a sum equal to 4s. per acre of the purchase money, and the remainder he shall pay within one week from the date of his application being granted, or forfeit such deposit. Such deposit, however, shall he immediately returned on demand, if the holder of the pre-emptive right shall purchase any portion of the land applied for. GO'". If the holder of the pre-emptive right decide npon purchasing any portion of the land applied for, he shall forthwith pay to the Treasurer of the Waste Lands Board a deposit of-4s. per acre of the purchase money of such portion ; and if he shall not within six weeks thereafter have paid the remainder of the purchase money, he shall forfeit such deposit together with all right or title to the land. 71. All paymeuts on account of pasiurage runs shall in future ho made on the first day of May, at the Land Office, at Christchurch, and the Waste Lands Board shall sit at that place for lhe Treasurer to receive the same.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Daily Times, Issue 66, 31 January 1862, Page 1 (Supplement)
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13,966GEOLOGY OF OTAGO. Otago Daily Times, Issue 66, 31 January 1862, Page 1 (Supplement)
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