A.—No. 17.

CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE

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by the chief of the great inland sea. But ill-advised tribes could not see the advantages of the works of peace as you saw them, and so the wish of the Government to carry out their own views and yours was frustrated. But at last, through the persistent energy of yourself and y rour friend Ormond the work has been pushed on, and horse-drays are now working on the Kaingaroa. Soon, also, the wire will bo at your house. Work on, my friend. Bo strong to urge the good works of peace. Though you are far off, all you do is known to the Government and to the world. Gisborne.

No. 112. Copy of a Letter from His Honor J. D. Ormond to the Hon. W. Gisborne. Sir,— Wellington, 4th July, 1870. I have the honour to enclose a Report from Mr. Bold, Telegraph Surveyor, who has been engaged in the erection of-the telegraph line to Tapuaeharuru, and who has also directed the road operations between Hawke's Bay and Taupo. In transmitting this report it is due to Mr. Bold to state that very great improvements in the road have been effected under his direction, and that the work was performed under considerable difficulties, owing partly to the insecure state of the district, and also from the natural difficulties of the country. The works carried out by Mr. Bold were rendered necessary to allow of supplies going up for the use of the forces lately engaged in operations against Te Kooti at Tairpo, and the value of the work performed may be estimated when I state that the forces now occupying Taupo are supplied at less than half the expense they were before the road was improved. I regret to have to report that from the long continuance of operations necessitated by Te Kooti's presence in the proximity of the Taupo district, the labour of the Armed Constabulary stationed there has not been available for road works, except in one or two trifling instances. The same reason has also operated in preventing that employment of the natives upon road works which would otherwise have taken place, and accounts for my not availing of your authority to do so. No Native labour has been employed on the line from Hawke's Bay to Taupo, except in the case of the chief Poihipi, who contracted to open the line for drays between liunanga and Tapuaeharuru, a distance of about forty miles, for .£450, which work has been duly executed, and carts are now used for the transport of goods on that part of the line. The present condition of the road between Hawke's Buy and Taupo will bo best described by my stating the mode of transport used for the supply of the forces. Drays take the goods from Napier to Titiokura saddle, about thirty miles from Napier; from there to Runanga, a distance of about twenty miles, everything has to be packed on horses ; and from Runanga drays carry goods forward to Tapuaeharuru, our advanced post at Taupo, and the site of the central telegraph station. I hope to obtain the assent of the Government to making very considerable improvements in the road during the coming year. The cessation of war operations will enable the labour of the Armed Constabulary stationed in the Taupo district to be largely availed of for road works, and the natives are also anxious for employment. 1 I need not add more to Mr. Bold's report, which gives detailed information as to the works most necessary. I have, it c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary,. Wellington. J. I). OimoND.

Enclosure in No. 112. Copy of a Letter Mr. Bold to His Honor J. D. Osmond. Sir, — Napier, June 21st, 1870. For your information I have the honour to submit the following report on the line of communication in course of improvement between here and Taupo, and which it is proposed should form one of the main roads convergent on the latter place. In the examinations of the various routes recently made with the object of determining the best and least expensive line of access to the Taupo plateaux, from the Hawke's Bay side, the town of Napier, as the most important seaport and centre of population on the East Coast, is suggested as the most favorable starting-point. From Napier there may be pai-tieularized three general approaches to Taupo, viz.—"By the Ngaruroro Gorge and Patea ; by Peka Peka and the Ripia Valley ; or by Pohue and the Waipunga Valley." Along the last-mentioned route the telegraph line has been erected, and the road has within the last year undergone considerable improvement. It is at present occupied by a chain of posts, garrisoned by detachments of the Armed Constabulary, at intervals of from ten to twelve miles apart, which have secured the transport service, and afforded some protection to the telegraph parties. I have as yet had no opportunity of personally ascertaining the difficulties to be encountered on the Ngaruroro route before referred to. I may, however, remark that the wide detour involved in carrying a road by this line, with Napier as a terminus, will so considerably increase the length over the distances by other routes, that for the purposes for which the road is intended, its adoption is out of the question. The Ngaruroro route will, no doubt, become available as an approach to the South end of Taupo, when it is decided upon to extend the road by the Forty-mile Bush track. The second route approaches Taupo by the Ripia Stream, a left affluent of the Mohaka, rising on the Taupo plains, near Maruanui. The only information I can collect regarding this line of route is that furnished by Mr. D. Ross, who examined and reported upon it in Januaiy, 18G8.