GK— No. 6.

SIXTH REPORT OF THE MARINE DEPARTMENT, FOR THE YEARS 1869-70 AND 1870-1.

Office of Commissioner of Customs, g IB AVellington, Bth September, 1871. I have the honor to submit for your Excellency's information a copy of the Report of the Marine Department of New Zealand, for the year ending 30th June, 1871. I have, &c, Henry Sewell, To His Excellency Sir George Ferguson Bowen, G.C.M.Q., Commissioner. &c, &c, Wellington.

REPORT. Customs Department, (Marine Branch), Sir,— Wellington, 12th August, 1871. 1. In submitting this Report it will be convenient first to notice the arrangement that was made for carrying on the duties of the Marine Department, when the sudden and lamented death of the late Mr. Balfour, in December 1869, deprived the public of his zealous and very valuable sevices as Colonial Marine Engineer. From the date of Mr. Balfour's death to the end of February, 1870, the business of the Department, still remaining under the directions of the Hon. the Postmaster-General, was conducted by Captain Johnson. Soon afterwards, the Government decided to transfer the Marine Department to the control of the Hon. the Commissioner of Customs, and I was instructed to take charge of, and to carry on the administrative business of the Marine Office, as a branch of the Customs Department; the engineering and technical duties which had been performed by the late Mr. Balfour were to be otherwise provided for ; this has since been done by the appointment of Mr. Blackett, the Acting Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department to be Marine-Engineer. Heretofore the management of business connected with shipping and navigation was much divided ; for instance, the duty of seeing that the provisions of the Marine Act, and of the Steam Navigation Acts, were complied with, was discharged by the Marine Department, the officer at the head of which took his directions from the Hon. the Postmaster-General, and, as a rule, communicated with that Minister through the Secretary of the General Post Office. All reports from Officers of Customs and Resident Magistrates, under the Enquiries into Wrecks Act, were sent direct to the Postmaster-General's Department; whilst all matters connected with masters and seamen, under the Merchant Shipping Acts, were attended to by the Customs Department. The advantages of having all business of this kind confined to one Department are too obvious to need particularising; experience has already shown that much time and trouble have been saved by the adoption of this plan. 2. At the close of the year 1869-70, I had been in charge of the Department for so short a time that I was not then possessed of sufficient information, nor had I so thorough an acquaintance with the working of the department as was necessary te enable me to prepare the usual annual Report; the present Report therefore embraces the period from the date when I took charge, down to the end of the year 1870-71. The customary statements and returns are appended hereto for the two years ended on the 30th June last; but the particulars for each year are shown separately. 3. Lighthouses.—The new lighthouses designed by the late Mr. Balfour, were completed towards the close of the financial year 1809-70, and the lights were permanently exhibited at them, as under : — Farewell Spit, 17th June, 1870. Nugget Point, 4th July, 1870. Cape Campbell, Ist August, 1870. The value of these lights, particularly the one on Farewell Spit, is constantly and warmly acknowledged by shipmasters. The several lights throughout the Colony have been regularly inspected from time to time ; this has mainly been effected by taking advantage of Mr. Nancarrow's periodical tours for inspection of steam vessels, to get him at the same time to visit and inspect the lighthouses. The department is much indebted to Mr. Nancarrow for the zealous and satisfactory manner in which he has carried out his duty, as he has had no additional remuneration for it. I have also myself, in the course of my Customs' inspections, taken the opportunity of visiting and inspecting all the lighthouses but two (Tiri Tiri and Mana), and I shall take the earliest opportunity of visiting these also, as an intimate local knowledge of every lighthouse station is indispensable to enable me to take steps for keeping the lighthouses properly supplied with oil, and other necessary stores, as well as to provide for