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such an undertaking as will come within the intention expressed in the resolution of the Provincial Council, which I have forwarded. I have, &c, Wm. Bolleston, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. Superintendent.

Enclosure 1 in No. 17. Message. The Superintendent transmits to the Council a petition which has been presented to him by a number of gentlemen interested in the establishment of an observatory in this province. As previously intimated by him, it was his intention to recommend the Council to make provision, supplementing private contributions, for the erection of the requisite building and the necessary apparatus, and also to make such appropriation for the maintenance of the observatory as will secure its efficiency in permanence. In forwarding this petition, he has to express his cordial concurrence in its prayer, and his hope that the Council will, at an early date, take it into its favourable consideration. In addition to a School of Science, of which so valuable a nucleus is already formed in the province, he is of opinion that the establishment of an institution of this character, having for its object the promotion of one of the highest branches of scientific study, with which the study of other branches of physical science and of the higher mathematics is so closely allied, would be of the greatest value as well to the colony as to the province, and that the locality in which the observatory was placed would derive the largest immediate benefit, in the prosecution of scientific education, from the special interest taken in it by scientific men in other parts of the world, and from the presence of more men devoted to the study and preaching of physical science. The Superintendent would recommend that, for promoting the special object of the petition, a vote of £1,000 should be appropriated for the building and requisite apparatus, and that an endowment of 5,000 acres of land should be given, on conditions to be determined by the Council, for the permanent maintenance of the observatory. With regard to the opinion of the memorialists, that the present is one of the last opportunities for securing endowments for educational and scientific purposes, the Superintendent proposes, in a separate message, to bring under the attention of the Council a recommendation to make an endowment for the purposes of a School of Science, in connection with which such liberal provision has already been made by it for the erection of buildings. Wm. Rolleston, 10th January, 1872. Superintendent.

Enclosure 2 in No. 17. Provincial Council Chambers, 11th January, 1872. The Council thank your Honor for your message No. 4, and resolves as follows:— " This Council request His Honor the Superintendent to place £1,000 on the supplementary estimates for the purpose of establishing an observatory, and £200 for the providing a suitable site in this province, on the understanding that the above sum shall be expended only in case the Colonial Government shall undertake the future maintenance of the institution."

Enclosure 3 in No. 17. Memoeandum. At a meeting held on the twenty-first anniversary of the Province of Canterbury, it was determined to form a society, having for its object the promotion of the establishment of an observatory in Christchurch. The proposal originated with a number of gentlemen interested in promoting the study of astronomy, and in the belief that special facilities were afforded for the purposes of an observatory in this part of New Zealand. The great expanse of the Canterbury Plains, together with the clearness of the atmosphere, would, it is believed, give a better horizon, and larger opportunities for observation, than exist in any other part of New Zealand. It has since transpired that, unknown to the promoters of the undertaking, the Astronomer Eoyal had suggested that Christchurch was the best place for observing the transit of Venus in 1874, and that the Imperial Government were desirous of securing the assistance of the Colonial authorities in making the necessary arrangements. This assistance has been promised by the colony to the utmost extent in its power, and the Colonial Government has suggested that the object of the society would be most effectually gained by its co-operating with the Colonial and Imperial Governments in making the necessary arrangements on the spot, and contributing to the cost of the building and the requisite instruments. Little difficulty is anticipated in obtaining the site, and in providing funds for the erection of a building. What is now principally desired by the society is to be immediately placed in communication with those societies at home which would assist it at the outset with advice as to the course to be taken by it so as to render its work most effective, and to secure its being of such value as to place it in communication with the observatories of Europe and elsewhere. It has been stated that the society may not unreasonably look to scientific societies in England for pecuniary assistance,