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are not too great, but lie could do little damage, considering that th£ object fired at could not be seen. Probably the best plan of meeting this mode of attack would be by employing the spar torpedo boats, in the manner I have already suggested. Port Lyttelton, in the South Island, is the port of Christchurch, from which it is distant seven miles. The town of Lyttelton stands on the north side, about 8,000 yards from the entrance of the harbor, which is six miles in length, and a little over 2,000 yards in width. The depth of water is eight fathoms at the entrance and shoals to three fathoms opposite the town ; consequently, a ship intending to threaten Lyttelton, or to destroy the shipping within the port, must proceed at slow speed in order to come to a stop before arriving opposite the town. At the same time, as there is deep water close in to both shores, an enemy could enter during night and day without difficulty, but he could not pass beyond the reach of guns mounted on either side. The requirements for the protection of Lyttelton being nearly similar to those at Wellington, I propose to adopt the same defensive measures, viz., batteries on shore and torpedo boats, to be afterwards supplemented by submarine mines. Owing to the land on both sides of the entrance being high, with precipitous slopes, it is impossible to find suitable sites for batteries for the purpose of keeping an enemy outside the Heads. The guns, therefore, Will have to be mounted about half-way up the harbor, and it Would be preferable to have them on both sides, on account of the facility with which hostile vessels could pass close in shore and be partially screened from fire. I have selected sites on the spur of a hill, west of Camp Bay, oil the southern side of the harbor, antl on two points on the opposite shore, to the west of Gollan's Bay. Considerations of expense and the difficulty, which might be experienced in rapidly reinforcing the garrison on the southern side^ induce me to recommend that, for the present, only the Works on the northern side should be constructed with an armament of two 7-inch and two 64-pounder rifled guns, the latter being so placed as to flank the shore below the former. Commencing at the maximum range of the 7-ton guns, more than forty shots could be fired at an enemy's ship1 before she came abreast of the batteries. The battery on the southern side should be designed for two powerful, and two medium-sized, rifled guns, together with two field pieces. Owing to the works on the northern side being within easy reach of Lyttelton by road, they will be conveniently situated for training artillerymen and for being readily supported in the event of an attempt to capture them by a coup de main, In the absence of any batteries for the defence of the harbor no landing could be effected within the Heads, which could not be resisted with the local forces proposed for the place. It has been suggested,

Port LyttelChristchurch. 26°658? tlO