5

H.—l

staff in the Survey Office can prepare. Mr. Weber will also furnish such other information as may be in his power. I have, &c, J. D. Ormond, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Superintendent.

No. 13. Major Palmer, R.E., to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary. Sir,— Wellington, 13th April, 1875. I have the honor to forward you herewith a correct copy of my report on the surveys, signed by myself. It is now ready for publishing. I have, &c., H. S. Palmer, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Major, R.E.

REPORT. Major Palmer, R.E., to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary. Sir,— Wellington, sth April, 1875. I have the honour to inform you that—in accordance with the request made to me in your letter of the 23rd of last December, that I should inspect and report to Government upon the state of the surveys in New Zealand, with a view to the introduction of a thorough trigonometrical system —I have visited, with one exception, all the chief Provincial Survey Offices in the colony, and the head office in Auckland of the surveys carried on under the General Government. In the course of this inspection I have sought to acquaint myself as fully as possible with the details of the work, both past and present, by examining the maps, field-books and other office documents, by collecting statistical information under various heads, and by eliciting all else that I needed to know from conversation with the officers in charge. To these gentlemen, my thanks are due for the readiness and courtesy with which they helped me in my inquiry. I have also, during this somewhat extensive tour, seen a good deal of the colony at many points in both islands, and have thus been able to judge in person of its general character as an area for trigonometrical survey. In order to comply fully with the wishes expressed in your letter, it will be best for me to begin this report with a sketch of the history of each survey separately, and of the manner in which it is being carried on, giving also my opinion of its worth, and a statement of progress made; and I may add that the facts which will be set forth in these accounts have been verified by the respective Chief Surveyors. 1 I shall in this way prepare the ground for subsequent remarks on the best means of ameliorating the present state of the surveys, and setting on foot a sound general system. The only head office which, from want of sufficient time, I was unable to visit is that of the Province of Taranaki; but the progress of surveys there has been so small that the omission of a detailed notice of them will not sensibly affect the general question.

I.—GENEEAL GOVEBNMENT STTEVEYS. To this branch—presided over by Mr. T. Hcale, Inspector of Surveys, who has his head office in Auckland—belong the surveys of Native and Confiscated lands throughout the colony. For convenience of description, the ■work may be divided into four heads : — (1.) Surveys of Native lands for the operations of the Native Lands Court. (2.) Surveys of Confiscated lands for purposes of sale. (3:) Boundary surveys of blocks of land, for acquisition from Natives. (4.) Triangulation in the North Island, as far as is required for the above surveys. Surveys of Native Lands. By the provisions of the Native Lands Acts, Natives wishing to be placed securely in tenure of their lands, whether individually or in groups or families, are empowered to obtain a Crown grant through the Native Lands Court, on the production of a survey by a sufficiently qualified person showing the position and boundaries of the property claimed, and on proof to the Court's satisfaction of their title to that property. Though the administration of Native lands has always 1 Except in Nelson only, where they have been verified by the chief draftsman, Mr. Gully, who was deputed in the Chief Surveyor's absence to furnish, me with necessary information. 2—H. 1.