D.—2a.

humidity of the climate, under-scrub and rushes soon appear, unless the land is ploughed. Agriculture on any scale beyond the most insignificant is out of the question where the cost of preparing the land for the plough is, as it is stated to be, J5O per acre. The agricultural statistics show that only 14 acres were sown in grain crops in 1882, and 343 acres in green crops and potatoes, although evidence obtained at Reefton shows prices to be such as should prove extremely remunerative, bread, meat, and flour" being twice, oats nearly three times, and potatoes five times as dear as at Christchurch. The total area of fend under crop or grass is mentioned as 10,886 acres, but we found practically that the extent of pasturage was so small that the whole of the meat supply has to be imported either by road from Canterbury or by sea from Wanganui; and not only is the meat not raised on the West Coast, but the grass is so limited that the stock cannot be fattened there. There are many isolated patches of land to be found in the valleys, and in favourable situations on the hill-sides, which could be made use of for grazing and garden culture; but the time has not yet come for this, and we fear that for many years to come there can be scarcely any population subsisting there by agricultural or pastoral pursuits. On the eastern side of the dividing range the country is far less wooded than in the western slopes, but on those portions which would be affected by any of the proposed routes the land is unfit for agriculture. The valleys of the rivers are rough and stony, and the mountain slopes afford only indifferent grazing for sheep; they cannot support a farming population, and will not produce traffic of any consequence for a railway. The features of the country are similar in all the rivers along which the proposed routes would travel. As soon as the plains and downs are left behind, the country becomes rugged and barren; the valleys are mostly little more than river beds —either naked shingle or having a thin covering of soil liable to be carried away by floods—and the hills exceedingly steep and rough. Although the foregoing account of our impression of the land to be traversed by either of the proposed lines may lead your Excellency to suppose we consider it of little value, we should not be doing justice, either to ourselves or the district we are reporting on, unless we stated in most explicit terms -our conviction that ultimately the timber growing on the lands will become of the greatest value to the colony; and, even if venturing almost outside the limits of our instructions, we would urge the advisableness, nay necessity, of a careful survey and report on the forest lands of the West Coast, with a view to those portions on which the most valuable timbers grow being reserved from sale, and, when necessity arises, being let to sawmillers on payment of a royalty, by which means a return of several pounds per acre would be obtained when the timber becomes valuable, instead of parting with the freehold now for a few shillings, only to insure the destruction of that which is more valuable than the soil on which it grows. Products. The principal products of the West Coast are timber, coal, and gold. The whole of the West Coast is covered with forest, and there is a great quantity of valuable timber; the most marketable is rimu or red pine, kahikatea or white pine, and matai or black pine. The various species of birch (Fagus), found in large quantities, are not generally used on the East Coast, although very suitable for sleepers and bridge building. The finest growth of marketable timber is found in the neighbourhood of Lake Brunner, and is said to cover an extent of 60,000 acres, with the advantage of being all on fairly-level terrace land. The valleys of the Teremakau, Arnold, Grey, and Hokitika Rivers also contain much valuable timber. Near Reefton, and in the valley of the Inangahua, the timber is principally black birch; on all the higher lands and sides of the mountains the growth is chiefly of birch, much of it of inferior quality. Where other good marketable timber occurs it is usually found in isolated patches. The quantity of good timber growing in the localities mentioned above is very considerable, and, if not wasted, might supply the demand on the East Coast for more than one hundred years. The Commission had evidence to the effect that the land yielded a maximum of 70,000, and an average of 30,000 feet per acre. We had no information as to the durability of the timber, which may, perhaps, be affected by its growing in so rainy a climate; but we noticed everywhere, from the evidence of trees felled on the road side, that the timber is unusually, sound even in the heart of the largest-sized trees. The fact of its commanding a ready sale on the East Coast is a sufficient criterion of the quality of the timber,

On eastern slopes.

Timber.

Quantity of timber.

3