D.—B

8

timber —matai and rimu—interspersed with totara trees; and large groves of magnificent totara occur in every direction over the block. The soil is uniformly rich, much of it being a deep alluvial deposit underlaid with fine waterworn shingle. Though the country generally has a great fall seaward and is therefore well drained, it has an apparent level, and the few rolling ridges will offer little obstacle to the formation of roads and tramways in any direction. The block is intersected and almost equally divided by the Oroua Stream, which runs north and south through a magnificent valley, fully five miles wide, into which the drainage from at least twothirds of the block finds its way, and which is full of magnificent timber. All over this valley water is obtainable in wells from 10 to 15 feet below the surface, and the block generally is very well watered, and yet entirely free from any injurious flooding of the streams. The main lino of railway in course of formation from Wanganui to "Wellington and Napier runs through the whole length of the block, and the tramway now open from the port of Foxton to the town of Palmerston approaches within four miles of the southern boundary, and its extension to a point well within the block is now in progress. The town of Feilding, the present centre of operations, is situate on the railway line close to its intersection by the Oroua Biver, and is reached either from the Foxton or the Bangitikei side by a good metalled road, which runs within four miles of it, and the road over that four miles is being rapidly formed and metalled. The Corporation's immigrants are received as a rule at "Wellington by myself, and while here the lives of the heads of families are insured in the New Zealand Government Insurance Office for £100 each, as a protection to the Corporation for their indebtedness, and as a provision for the families in case of accident; the first half-year's premium being advanced by the Corporation. Then they are forwarded by steamer to Foxton, at Government expense. At Foxton they are received by an agent, and lodged for a night, if necessary, at the expense of the Corporation. The next day they are forwarded, with their bedding, to Palmerston, twenty-five miles, by tramway, their heavy luggage following immediately. Arrived at Palmerston, they are lodged in the depot built by the Corporation, which is capable of holding about fourteen families. Up to the time of arrival at Palmerston no charge is made against the immigrants, except for the insurance premium, and for ship's kits, if provided in England at the Corporation expense. They remain at the depot for a day or two until carts can be got to convey them through to Feilding, a distance of eleven miles. The immigrants are charged with the cost of their rations while in depot, and a charge of 30s. per family is made to cover cost of cartage of people and luggage through to the settlement. Arrived at the settlement, each family had at first a bell tent supplied in which to live until their houses should be ready. As winter approached I had a number of j^ huts erected of sawn timber for their temporary accommodation, and after another shipment I hope to have cottages erected in anticipation of the people's arrival. The immigrants are supplied on the ground with all necessary tools, cooking utensils, and supplies of food, which are charged at reasonable rates against their future earnings, and the men are at once set to work on road making, bush clearing, carpentering, sawing, brickmaking, or bricklaying, or on any other work for which they may be best fitted. As I attach much importance to the immediate housing of newly arrived immigrants, and believe it to be essential to the full success of a special settlement such as this, I trust I may be pardoned a slight digression to explain the plan which I have adopted with reference to this matter, and my reasons for incurring the expense. I tried to locate the " Duke of Edinburgh " immigrants at once on country sections of land, and set them to build themselves temporary habitations out of the materials most ready to hand. A very few days' experience proved to me conclusively that such a course would be fatal to the prosperity of the settlement; and that with so large a number as I had to expect to deal with, settlement under these circumstances would be impossible. In the first place, all my available land would be taken up at once, and it would be quite impossible to put immigrants into the bush before the road lines were cut. Secondly, the separation of the people made their supply almost impossible, as well as their concentration on any work. Thirdly, their ignorance of the character of the materials at command, their unhandiness, and tho want of tools (unless they incurred a large expenditure for them), and the fact that as a rule only one workman was available to build a shelter for each family, made it almost impossible for them to erect decent houses in any reasonable time. Moreover, separation means isolation in a country covered with fern and scrub, or even flax, and the people lost their way in moving about, and were thoroughly dispirited. Their utter ignorance of the character of the land made them select the worst, or be discontented with the best sections ; and I saw nothing but insurmountable difficulties to myself, great discontent and long discomfort to the people themselves, and a waste of valuable time and of some expensive material in the production of an utterly valueless shanty. I immediately resolved, therefore, to concentrate the immigrants and their work about the town at first; to erect houses for them at once on terms easy to them, and productive of a fair return for the expenditure ; and I look forward to their removing out into the country as the road works open it up, and after they shall have educated themselves into a knowledge of the country, their work, their prospects, and their real requirements. Acting on this determination, I entered into arrangements for the immediate erection of as many cottages as the timber I could obtain and the carpenters available would allow. There was much difficulty at first, as the timber had to be carted from Palmerston, a distance of eleven miles ; and this fact, with other disadvantages inseparable from working in a new place, made the first twenty cottages rather expensive. Now, however, that we have our own saw-mill at work, carpenters at hand, and bricks made on the ground, I am able to lessen the expense, and ascertain exactly the cost of the buildings. The cottage, 20 XlO feet, divided into two rooms, weather-boarded, with shingled roof, and brick chimney, I estimate to cost £32, and tho acres of township land on which they are placed have an upse