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well ventilated. When I visited the mine on the 14th March the slide-gate at the top of the shaft was pegged up, and there was no one about. I requested the manager and also Mr. Christie to either erect a proper self-closing gate, or else to keep the present gate closed whenever the cage was not at the top of the shaft. ■ They promised to comply with this. In other respects the provisions of the Act appear to be complied with. Green Island Mine. —Visited this mine on the 15th March, and found the workings in good order, and the ventilation satisfactory. In one place a man was working under a piece of coal/ which required support, without a sprag. It was placed, and I cautioned the man. Five pillars have been drawn lately, and the roof let down successfully, no timber having been used in the drawing. Abbotsroyd Colliery. —Visited this mine on the loth March. The workings are in good order now, but part of the mine has lately been blocked by falls from the roof and creep in the floor. The roof is bad at places, and requires timber and careful watching, but attention appears to be paid to these matters. The ventilation was not very good, but a drive is being put in to connect with some of the old workings, when the air will get a straight run. This work was nearly completed when I was at the mine, and by this time I have no doubt they have broken through. The Act appears to be carefully observed. Kaitangata Bailwa/y and Coal-Mining Company. —Visited this mine on the 16th March, and found that all the workings were in thoroughly good order, the ventilation good, and the Act carefully observed. The mine-workings are now closed in, with the exception of a small area by the fault, which is being working by a horse-incline. The pillars have been drawn, and a large area let down successfully, but the slack formed by the crushing of the pillars has fired, and this area is now stopped off. The principal workings are now in the dip, but here, both north and south of the main incline, the coal becomes poor at a certain distance, and it is proposed shortly to draw the top coal. No gas at all has been seen in the mine for a month prior to my visit, and no accumulation whatever has occurred. Nightcaps Colliery. —Visited this mine on the 20th March, and found the mine in good order throughout. The under-ground workings are only small as yet, but it is proposed to increase, the number of men employed under ground at once. Mr. Lloyd is taking steps in good time to provide a most efficient ventilation for the mine, having erected a furnace, with fire-bars, covering an area of 5 feet by 4 feet, which will serve the mine for a long time. This furnace was not quite completed when I visited the mine, but the air even then was fairly good throughout the workings, No special rules have as yet been adopted for this mine, but they will be introduced forthwith. Hitherto the principal works of the mine have been opencast on the lower seam. As I mentioned in my last year's report, water has been brought in for a distance of about four miles, and the cover of a large area of coal has been stripped in a most economical way, and about two acres of coal yet remain, which can be treated in the same manner, after which the water-power can be utilized for other works in connection with the mine. The mine is well and carefully worked, and the provisions of the Act adhered to. Shag Point Colliery.— Visited this mine on the 27th March, and found that, in consequence of notice given by Mr. Binns, the dip-workings below the sea had been abandoned, and the process of dismantling was being proceeded with as rapidly as possible. I went through part of these old workings with Mr. Williams, and saw the falls from the roof which had given rise to Mr. Binns's action. The pillars which had been left were certainly small in proportion to the bords, and if work had been continued to the dip through these old workings the expense of keeping up the roof would have been unending, and might in the long run have been unavailing, so that I consider the action taken was well advised. Mr. Williams is following out Mr. Binns's directions in every particular, and proposes to open out submarine works again in accordance with the regulations, but in the meantime the men are all employed in the lower seam worked from the main shaft. This seam of coal is about 4 feet thick, and has been worked longwall over a small area; but the exceedingly bad roof and steepness of the seam have not been adapted to this system, and the works are now being opened up on the bord-and-pillar system, with somewhat better results, although even now the roof requires to be very carefully watched, as" no timbering short of close lathing would suffice to keep it up. The ventilation was fairly good on the day of my visit, and care appears to be exercised in the workings of the mine. An accident happened to a man named Peter Me Anally on the 17th March, which resulted in his death on the 23rd March. I append a special report on the circumstances of the case. I have, &c, S. Heebeet Cox, The Under-Secretary for Mines, Wellington. Inspector of Mines.

No. 6. Mr. Inspector Cox to the Undee-Seceetaey for Mines. Sir, — Mines Department, Wellington, 16th June, 1883. I have the honour to forward a few notes on Sebastian Smith and Moore's system of coal-getting by compressed lime, which will, I think, prove of interest to the mine managers of New Zealand, since hitherto no reliable data have been obtainable on the subject. I take these notes chiefly from a paper read by Sebastian Smith before the Chesterfield and Derbyshire Institute of : Mining, Civil, and Mechanical Engineers. The cartridges employed consist of nearly pure lime, 2£ inches diameter, -which, by hydraulic pressure, are reduced from 7 inches to 4J inches in length, the :density being thus nearly doubled, and when slaked in an unconfined space these occupy about five times their original bulk, and seven cartridges go to a charge. The shot-holes are drilled by means jof a light boring machine. An iron tube about -J inch diameter is inserted along the whole length of the bore-hole, being provided with a small external channel or groove along the upper side, the