C—2

5

The objection which may be urged to this method of determining latitude is that, the result is affected by any error in the declinations of the stars; but, as these are all determined at the great observatories, no great apprehension need exist on that point; and, if there should, it can always be set at rest by further observations. Thus, for the New Zealand latitude observations, Mr. Ellery has signified his willingness to verify, by observations at the Melbourne Observatory, the declinations of any stars which may be deemed uncertain. Taking the declinations as given in the Melbourne catalogue, and referring to Mr. Adams's list of observations of ninety-nine pairs of stars, it will be seen that only in eighteen pairs does the deduced altitude differ more than one second from the mean. The latitude, 41° 18' 0"-59 S., given by him for Survey Observatory, Mount Cook, may be accepted as reliable within the fraction of a second. It is proposed to observe for latitude, during the ensuing season, at several main points in both Islands. The value of the level divisions and of the micrometer revolutions having been determined from many observations, and the constants which are used in the reductions computed, no great time need be occupied at any of the future stations. Having obtained the latitude so satisfactorily at Mount Cook, Wellington, it may appear that latitudes of other stations might more easily be deduced from computation through the trigonometrical survey than from observation; and so they would. But the observations for latitude already obtained in the colony, and reported, clearly show that, on account of the unequal densities of the earth, the latitude of any single station should not be accepted as the datum from which to deduce the latitudes of all other stations. Hitherto, from inadequate .instrumental means, the department could not assume a greater accuracy in latitude determination than 4" or 5". But with the zenith telescope the limit of error may be brought for each station within the narrow limits of half a second, plus or minus what is latent to the cause just referred to. Longitude.- —The longitude of the principal points in New Zealand have, it may be affirmed, been determined correctly for the purposes of navigation, or of placing the country in its true relative position on the map of the world ; but for astronomical purposes, such as in connection with the transit of Venus, the determination is not deemed beyond challenge. Colonel Tupman exchanged timesignals through the cable with Mr. Bussell, the Government Astronomer, Sydney, but, as unfavourable weather prevented star observations at both places on the nights of exchange, and of course compelled reliance on the rates of the clocks, he was not quite satisfied with his longitude results on leaving New Zealand, and accordingly requested the Survey Department to repeat the exchange for him, taking care to send signals only on those nights when the conditions were all favourable. Mr. Bussell and Dr. Lemon having both kindly consented to co-operate, it is proposed to make the exchange very shortly, and so re-determine, by electric-telegraph signals, the difference of longitude between Sydney and Wellington. Settlement Surveys op Bural and Suburban Lands. An area of 671,937 acres has been subdivided and marked on the ground into 4,173 sections, at an average cost of Is. 3d. per acre; and 1,539 acres of town lands have been surveyed into 1,768 allotments. These works, of course, imply the selection and survey of road-lines, so as to secure that each section will have an access and frontage to what either is naturally, or can be made, a practicable road. As great dissatisfaction exists in some districts arising from the system pursued in some of the earlier surveys of running road lines straight without any regard to the features of the country, and in others from no road-lines of any sort being laid off, care is now taken to grade the road-lines in hilly country, and that each section wherever situated has a road-frontage. The greater care taken in this respect necessarily increases the cost of the surveys; but a few pence more per acre is nothing when set against the expense and heartburnings which ensue where settlers have to begin and arrange for roads and deviations after they are settled on the ground. Boads are necessarily one of the greatest wants of a new country ; and, as it is impossible that much can be done in formation for a long time on the hundreds of miles of main and occupation lines