5

E.—7

I have audited this account, and have compared the items with the several vouchers, and find it correct. The balance at the bank is accurately stated. J. Ollivier, 12th March, 1883. Provincial District Auditor.

Annual Eeport of the Director of the Canterbury Museum. I have the honour to submit to you, in accordance with your instructions, my thirteenth annual report on the progress and present state of the Canterbury Museum. Throughout the past financial year the Museum has been open to the public every week-day, except Monday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from the Ist September to the 30th April; on Sundays, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. From the Ist May to the 31st August from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on every weekday except Monday ; on Sundays from 2 p.m. till 4.30 p.m. On Mondays the Museum is not opened till noon. Except the first week in the months of August, December, and April, when it is closed for cleaning purposes, the Museum, according to a former resolution of the Board of Governors, has only been closed on Good Friday and on Foster and Christmas Days. In my last annual report, when the instrument for the registration of visitors had only been in use for a few weeks, I could only give an approximate account. The annexed statement (Appendix I.) of the visitors to the musuem during the past financial year will show clearly that this institution continues to be a favourite resort of the public, and that its importance as an educational establishment of no mean value, both to young and old, continues to be every year more and more recognized. This being the first year in which a reliable account of the number of visitors has been obtained by the automatic process, I wish to point out that the total number of visitors during the year has reached 84,231, a number which, when compared with that of other colonial museums in New Zealand and Australia, may be considered remarkably large, the mean numbers on week-days being 182 and on Sundays 643 visitors. The largest attendance, 3,077, in the first week of November of last year was during the Agricultural Show week, when there is always a large influx of visitors from all parts of Canterbury, as well as from New Zealand generally. The highest monthly attendance, 8,992, was in January last, when there are :\l .rays a large number of holiday-makers and travellers in Christchurch. The number of visitors on public holidays has considerably diminished as compared with former years, when as many as 1,500 visitors were counted to enter the doors. This smaller attendance is doubtless owing to the fact that since the opening of the Museum on Sundays many persons, who were formerly unable to visit it during the week, can now come on Sunday afternoons instead of only on public holidays. With a few exceptions the conduct of the visitors has been remarkably satisfactory, and very little damage has been done to the exhibits. Although we had to deplore a few wanton acts of vandalism, I have no doubt that the more the education of the people improves the more our visitors will respect the objects exhibited for their benefit, and, moreover, will help the assistants to preserve the specimens from injury. The Canterbury Museum having now obtained such large dimensions, it will perhaps be more convenient, in reporting upon its contents and administration, to divide this report into four principal parts, treating separately of the Natural History; the Antiquity and Ethnological; the Technological Collections, including the School of Mines series; and, lastly, the Art Collections. Natural History Museum. —During the past twelve months valuable additions have been made to the collection, and a number of specimens have been sent away as exchanges. A few specimens were obtained by purchase of which two skeletons of the diminutive sperm whale Kogia (Euphysetes) breviceps, and four skins of Otaria jubata, the Southern sea»lion, are the most important. Amongst the numerous contributions the most valuable donations have been received from the following gentlemen: Mr. W. N. T. Thacker, Okain's Bay, skin of a large feral boar; Mr. J. D. Enys, F.G.S., various specimens of zoology, botany, and palEeontology; Mr. Charles Traill, Stewart Island, specimens of timber; Professor F. W. Hutton, collection of New Zealand land shells; Mr. C. Napier Bell, M.1.C.E., collection of sponges from Torres Strait; Mr. F. H. Meinertzhagen, Waimarama, New Zealand fishes and reptiles in spirits of wine; Mr. Joseph Day, Sumner, New Zealand marine vertebrates and invertebrates in spirits of wine; Mr. Thomas H. Potts, F.L.S., Ohinetahi, various specimens of New Zealand vertebrates and invertebrates; Mr. Charles Chilton, New Zealand Crustacea; Mr. E. W. Fereday, New Zealand Lepidoptera; Dr. E. yon Lendenfeld, Australian sponges; Dr. W. L. Buller, F.E.S., specimen and egg of Apteryx viantelli. Work done. —Owing to the fact that a considerable portion of the taxidermist's time has been taken up with the arrangement of the Technological Museum and the preparation of stands and smaller show-cases, not possessing any funds for obtaining extra assistance, he could not devote all his time to the biological portion of the Museum. Notwithstanding this, some valuable additions to the public collections have been mounted; amongst them a group of four sea-lions from the Auckland Islands, a large feral boar from Banks Peninsula, and some smaller mammals. Besides five additions to the New Zealand birds, a small number of foreign birds were mounted, including a fine male South American ostrich. A number of New Zealand and foreign fishes were also added to the public collections, both mounted and in spirits of wine. Amongst the former, in a separate case, the fine specimen of (Regalecus pacificus), the large ribbon-fish, 12 feet 5 inches long, stranded on the New Brighton Beach, and an albacore. Some specimens of New Zealand fishes, prepared by Profes^ir Parker's glycerine jelly process, have also been received from the Dunedin Museum, and placed in the show-cases. . A number of skeletons have also been added, including the skeleton of the fine sire " Traducer," of the European Bison (Bonassus Bison), of the Manatee (Manatus americanus) of South America, and of the Dugong (HaKcore cetacea) of- Queensland, and a number of smaller ones. A large number of marine invertebrates, in spirits of wine, about five hundred, were placed in small glass