11

H.—s

steamer, and the statement that the General Government had arranged as to freight, &c. But no advices on the subject have been received by the Company's agent here or in Melbourne ; we have not received any instructions ; and, rather than allow the exhibits to arrive too late, we have taken the responsibility of forwarding them, though at the cost of over £120 for freight, &c. We have, &c, Julius Vogel, The Agent-General for New Zealand, London. William H. Reynolds.

No. 25. The Agent-Genebal to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaet. 7, Westminster Chambers, Sib,— Victoria Street, Westminster, 16th May, 1873. I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 15th February last, forwarding additional papers relative to the Vienna Exhibition, and giving me further instructions therein. I have the honor to report, for the information of the Government, that all the cases and packages despatched from the Colony have been safely delivered in Vienna, and that, Mr. Phillips Bevans, the agent employed by the Colonies of Victoria, New Zealand, and Queensland, has received very full instructions as to the best manner of classifying and displaying the various objects. My Co-commissioner, Sir Charles Clifford, who went on to Vienna for the express purpose of being present at the opening of the Exhibition, will see that Mr. Bevan's instructions, so far as New Zealand is concerned, are carried out in a satisfactory manner. The various suggestions and recommendations contained in Dr. Hector's valuable memoranda, forwarded by the Government, have received very careful consideration, and his proposed arrangement of the New Zealand exhibits (except as regards the too lavish use of glass show-cases) will in the main be adopted. The appeal made by the Commissioners to Colonists and others resident in this country to assist the undertaking by the loan of pictures, paintings, articles of Colonial-made furniture, specimens of natural history, &c, has been attended with the most satisfactory results. The contributions of this kind are not only very extensive, but many of them are of great value; as, for example, the paintings exhibited by Mr. Larkworthy and Mr. Alexander Brogden, M.P. The Natural History collections, I venture to say, even surpass in extent and interest, those forwarded from the Canterbury Museum. For instance, Mr. James Brogden has in the most liberal spirit agreed to get his collection of about 250 New Zealand birds mounted in the best style of the art, and displayed in plate-glass show-cases, and without putting the Commissioners to any expense whatever. In pursuance of your instructions, I have employed skilled draftsmen to prepare suitable showcards (twelve inches square) to accompany all the principal exhibits; each of them having a conspicuous heading to distinguish the Colony, and a concise description of the object, with the name of the exhibitor in English, German, and French. I have furnished to the Secretary of the British Commission, for embodiment in the preliminary official catalogue, a classified list of the New Zealand exhibits, grouped in the manner indicated in the general circular. But apart from this, I have arranged to have printed a full descriptive catalogue of all the objects in the New Zealand Court in three languages, English, German, and French, and arranged for convenience of reference in the following manner: — Part I. —List of Exhibits sent from New Zealand to the Vienna Exhibition. Part 11.' —List of New Zealand Exhibits sent from England to the Vienna Exhibition. A careful index will complete this hand list, and I venture to hope that it will not merely render the New Zealand contributions more intelligible and interesting to the general public, but will be of special value to the Colony, as affording a concise exposition of its various resources and products. I hope to have a proof of the catalogue ready to forward by the present mail; and at the request of the Secretary of the British Commission, I have agreed to furnish copies of it officially for record in the archives of the Exhibition, and in order that it may be made the basis of the jurors' investigation and awards. As already hinted, I have, in order to reduce the expenditure on fittings, dispensed with some of the glass show-cases recommended by Dr. Hector; for example, I do not propose to exhibit the leather, glue, and other objects of a like kind, under glass. On the other hand, following the example of tho other Colonies, I have made an arrangement with Messrs. Sage and Co., by whom all the showcases are supplied, to take them on hire at a fixed rate, with the option of buying them outright at their original price, in the event of their being afterwards required by the Government for the permanent exhibition of Colonial products at Kensington. On this subject I intend to address the Government at some length by next mail. I apprehend that the iiltimate disposal of the fine collections now on view at Vienna (a large portion of which is public property) has already been under the consideration of the Government; and it appears to me that the occasion is an opportune one for determining how far they may be made available in the establishment of a permanent New Zealand Court alongside the other British Colonies in an International Exhibition here. The steps which I have detailed above, and which appear to me absolutely necessary to render the New Zealand section in the Vienna Exhibition worthy of the Colony, have of course involved a considerable amount of expenditure, and, notwithstanding my best efforts to keep within a fixed limit, the amount placed at my disposal, namely £500, will I fear prove altogether inadequate to our requirements. The translating and printing of the catalogue alone will amount to a very considerable item, and the carriage of exhibits by the Continental routes will amount to a much heavier sum. But these are matters in which my instructions from the Government and the simple necessities of the case leave me no option. I need hardly add that I have hitherto done, and will continue to do, my best to manage the business as economically as possible.