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Detention and other Works. —Comprises all such services as cannot be entered in the tables, the principal items of which are field inspection of surveys, inspection of road works by members of the survey staff, standard surveys of towns, &c, and delays caused by obstruction of natives. Standard Surveys of Towns. —A survey of this nature in extension of the City of Auckland Survey of two years ago, had become so urgent owing to the rapidly-increasing number of land transfer surveys received, that I was obliged to detail Mr. Inspector Williams to carry this on during the months of May and June. He has already laid down a number of stone standards in the suburbs, and by the end of July should have the survey sufficiently advanced to admit of his return to his proper duties. A very great deal of trouble has been caused by the removal of some of the standard points, by gas companies, and by contractors, through ignorance of their character and use ; but notwithstanding these drawbacks, their practical use in affording starting and connecting points for city surveys has been very great. The towns of Gisborne, Cambridge, Ngaruawahia, Onehunga, and Devonport have had the survey partially applied to them, besides all new towns and villages. Land Transfer Surveys. —A large increase in the number of plans, deposited from actual surveys, has taken place during the past year. I have passed 164, and Mr. Barnard at Gisborne 29. The work in this branch has kept two draughtsmen and a cadet fully employed in examining plans and placing diagrams on the certificates' forms for the District Land Registrar. The character of the surveys have been very good, and my requisitions have, in nearly all cases, been most willingly met by the Surveyors employed on the work. Owing to the improved prospects of the colony generally, I anticipate a considerable increase in the work of the ensuing season. Inspection. —Mr. Williams has inspected a number of surveys during the season, diagrams of which, together with those by Mr. Barnard, in charge at Gisborne, have been sent to you. In several instances these inspections have resulted in the Surveyors having to amend their work before it could be passed. The number of Surveyors employed in this district on work of an official or semi-official character, whose plans have to be passed by this office, is 82 : it is manifest, therefore, that only a small percentage of surveys can be inspected in the field. As a matter of fact it is only those surveys m which evident discrepancies or inaccuracies are rendered apparent by the office examination, that are inspected, and, as a consequence, the diagrams you see only represent these doubtful cases. Only one of the Staff Surveyors has had his work inspected this year. Mr. Williams experienced great trouble in inspecting some of the large forest blocks near Rotorua—he had, in fact, to execute some minor triangulation to accomplish it; this of course makes the work expensive. I have myself visited nine of the survey parties in the field, and six of the road parties, travelling 2,560 miles in the sixty-nine days I was away from the office, fifteen of which were occupied in a journey to Rotorua with yourself and the Hon. Minister of Lands. Office Work. —The returns of the Chief Draughtsman, Mr. Kensington, show a large amount of work ; the greater portion, however, of officers' duties cannot be exactly specified. The large number of Surveyors in the field, both staff and schedule, employed by the Government, together with the private Surveyors engaged on Native Land Court and other surveys which have to pass through this, office and be properly recorded and checked, involves a large amount of work, more indeed than can be properly kept up to date ; the office staff not being proportionate to the field staff. A large number of sittings of the Native Land Court have been held in different parts of the North Island during the year, the majority of the plans for which have to be sorted out, compared with advertised descriptions of boundaries, and then transmitted to the Courts. After each sitting, all the plans are returned here for custody, and the orders made, noted, and communicated to the Chief Surveyors of other districts, whilst for those in this district, where subdivisions, &c, are ordered, instructions, accompanied with tracings, have to be prepared and issued to the Surveyors. During the season the Draughtsmen have got out 300 block sheets, bringing the total number up to 960, prepared during the last five and a half years, on each of which more or less work is plotted. The number of lithographs printed in this district has been considerably less this year, the cost has been, including drawing-printing and paper, £115 25., whilst the sales have amounted to £75. I regret to say that a large number of the 80-chain lithographs are out of print. Indifferent as they were, they have saved the Department, in tracings alone, three or four times their cost. I shall be able to send you within a fortnight the first sheet of the 4-mile map of the province, which has been in hand, off and on, for nearly two years. The number of marginal plans placed on Crown grants, certificates of title, native memorials and certificates, and copies of the latter sent to other districts, under the direction of Mr. Kennedy, Crown Grant Draughtsman, is equivalent to 2,139, whilst the Gisborne Office has placed on N.L.C Order and other forms, 140. Mr. Sturtevant, in charge of the Land Transfer Branch, has prepared marginal plans for 593 certificates, mortgages, &c, in duplicate, thus showing a total of 3,465 marginal plans. The number of certificates and grants on hand to be prepared, amount to 290, a large number of which cannot be made out for want of surveys. Fox roads taken and closed under the Public Works Act, 90 plans and descriptions have been passed. The correspondence relating to the business of the Department, is increasing, more especially that in the Maori language, Mr. Johnston, the accountant, has passed through his hands 1,620 vouches, representing £55,052 17s. 4d, which includes the survey, homesteads, roads, and Great North Road expenditure. The refunds for " services rendered" (surveys, &c.,) amount to £557 12s lOd, which has been paid to public account. Work for the ensuing Season, 1882-3.—A reference to the monthly abstract will show that we have on hand, for which instructions have been issued to the surveyors:—Triangulation, 1,676 square miles; rural and suburban, 88,004 acres; native blocks, 271,000; roads, 239 miles. This amount will take the staff fully twelve months to get through, without counting work which will come in from time to time, out of this total, about 15,000 acres of rural land is subject to the same difficulties, as to survey as much of last year's work, i.e., it is adjacent to old surveys. I hope that the blank space on the map, known as the Urewera country, will disappear during next summer, and its natural features become known as the triangulation covers it. There are some very large blocks ready for survey there, which the native owners wish to pass through the court and obtain a title for. During the past