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by officers and non-commissioned officers commanding stations ; monthly inspection by officer commanding district. In addition to the weekly marching order drill, the men have been drilled one hour a day for at least three months in the year, consisting mainly of skirmishing and squad drill, working in files and fours over rough and broken ground, and sometimes through thick scrub. The regular annual course of instruction in musketry was commenced on the 2nd of December, and finished the latter end of February. Conveying Mails and Bespatches. —A mounted orderly leaves Opotiki for Whakatane with the public mail every "Wednesday ; on his arrival at Whakatane he hands the mail over to the orderly belonging to that station, who proceeds to Matata with it, where he is again relieved by one of the mounted men belonging to the Tauranga district. He returns next day with the down mail, and hands it over to the Opotiki orderly. Te Teko: An orderly leaves this post for Matata every Wednesday with the mail, and waits there until the arrival of the Tauranga mail on Thursday, in order to take up despatches or telegrams from Tauranga or Opotiki. Escorts and Guards. —One officer and 13 men attended on Sir Donald McLean during his visit to "Whakatane. Three men and a non-commissioned officer mount guard at Te Teko and Galatea at 5 p.m., and come off at 6 a.m. Prisoners sent to Auckland or Tauranga under sentence or for trial are escorted by members of the force. Making and Improving Target Ranges. —At Galatea a new target range has been made, up to 600 yards, together with new butts. At To Teko the range has been kept in good order. Issuers and Storekeepers. —Constable Brodkorb acts as issuer at Te Teko Station. Erection of Stockades and Redoubts.- —At Galatea, a new redoubt, GO feet square, with two flanking angles, has been erected and completed with the exception of a small part of the banquette. The whole has been built entirely of sods in a most substantial manner. The parapet is 6 feet 6 inches high and G feet wide, and a ditch 12 feet wide and G feet deep. On account of the nature of the soil (loose pumice sand) the scarps of the ditch had to be sodded up; the latter work took up a great deal of the time and labour; and the earth removed from it had to be trucked to a distance of 200 yards. A strong palisading round the outside of the ditch of the redoubt is in course of erection; two sides have been completed. Civil Duties. Steps taken for the Prevention of Crime. —At Opotiki, one constable has been constantly employed on police duties, and received the assistance of other members of the Force when required. Attending Civil Courts. —First-class Sergeant Mason acts as Clerk of the Resident Magistrate's Court, and one constable attends on all Court days. Taking Census. —One non-commissioned officer was employed in taking census and agricultural statistics from 20th of February to 3rd of March. Public "Woeks. Roadwork. —At Te Teko, 1,651 cubic yards of earth have been removed on the Te Teko and Galatea Eoad. Owing to the men having to be employed in clearing land for grass, no roadwork has been done since March, except a few culverts repaired on the Te Teko and Richmond Road. At Opotiki, 31 chains of road, 38 feet wide, completed; very heavy formation, owing to the swampy nature of the land. At Galatea, on account of the large quantity of work required to be done in erecting redoubt, quarters, fencing paddocks, &c, very little work has been done on the roads there, having been able only to find men at the beginning of May to do any. However, 13 chains of heavy swamp have been embanked and formed, also 4 chains of formation on light pumice soil. At "Whakatane, 25 chains of road have been formed between the village and school-house, also the road between "Whakatane and Opotiki has been repaired, and heavy landslips, caused by the recent earthquakos, have been removed. The distance the road has been repaired is about 3 miles. Building of Bridges and Culverts. —A bridge 19 feet long and 6 feet wide has been built on the road between Whakatane and Opotiki, also bridges kept in repair on road between TeTeko and Galatea. Building Houses and Stables. —At Opotiki, officers' quarters of sawn timber are in course of erection. The dimensions are 32 feet by 16 feet, with a verandah all round; the height of studs is 12 feet, and the verandah 9 feet. Also a cook-house, 1G feet by 9 feet, has been built. At Galatea, barracks have been built inside the redoubt, and partitioned off into compartments as follow:—Orderly room, 10 feet by 14 feet; store, 10 feet by 14 feet; reading room, 20 feet by 14 feet; guard room, 10 feet by 14 feet. Temporarily, until the barrack room is finished, the reading room has been used for mens' quarters. The blocks and plates for the barrack and non-commissioned officers' rooms have been laid. A house for officers' quarters is being built outside the redoubt. At Whakatane, a three-stall stable has been built. At Opotiki, a building has been put up for stabling, 26 feet by 16 feet, and divided into four stalls, with hay-loft, hay-racks, &c. Fencing Paddocks and laying down in Grass. —At Te Teko 23 chains of post-and-rail fencing and 5 chains of ditch and bank have been completed. 990 rimu rails have been split at Ohui, aud a cart-road, 500 yards in length, has been made into the bush to where the rails are stacked. 315 rails, 120 posts, 30 house blocks, and 410 feet of timber have been carted from Ohui, a distance of 10 miles. Eight acres and a half of land in one of the paddocks have been ploughed, harrowed, and sown in cocks-foot and rye-grass. . Planting European Trees. —Poplar trees have been planted on each side of the Te Teko and Galatea Road for a distance of 10 miles, with intervals of 100 yards between each tree. Captain Preece intends planting 2 acres with English and Tasmanian trees at Te Teko (the purchase of seed having been authorized by Sir Donald McLean) —viz., Tasmanian blue-gums, pines, poplars, English oak, &c.; that portion of the country being quite destitute of timber. It is found, too, that the blue-gum will