D.—2

V

Tuesday, 28th Notembee, 1882. The Commission, having travelled from Christchurch via Cheviot and Greenhills, met at Kaikoura. Present .- All the members. Mr. H. Inglis and Mr. Bullen, having been appointed to represent the interests of Kaikoura, waited upon the Commission and made statements relating to the line of railway. Captain Davidson and Mr. Passeau, Sheep Inspector, were examined.

Satijeday, 2nd Decembee, 1882. The Commission, having travelled from Kaikoura via the coast, Woodbank Station, and Flaxbourne, met in the Courthouse at Blenheim at 10 a.m. Present: All the members. Mr. Henderson, chairman of the Blenheim Railway League, was present, and addressed the Commission. The following gentlemen were examined: Mr. W. G. Clark, Commissioner of Crown Lands and Chief Surveyor for Marlborough; Mr. Elliott, farmer; Mr. Vincent Hewitt, settler; Mr. John Murphy, cattledealer; Mr. John Mackenzie, butcher ; Mr. Alfred Dobson, surveyor ; Mr. Macalister, Inspector of Telegraphs for Marlborough and Nelson ; Mr. A. P. Seymour, runholder. Affidavits by Mr. George Edward Kinsey, of Marlborough, and by Mr. Henry Alexander MacShane, of Balclutha, were put in. The meeting then adjourned.

Nelson, Tuesday, sth Decembee, 1882. The Commission met at Nelson at 3 p.m. Present: All the members. Mr. Fell, on behalf of the Nelson Railway Committee, addressed the Commission, and introduced and examined the following witnesses: Mr. Robert Disher, of Waimea West, farmer; Mr. Adolph Wiesenhavern, of Wairoa Gorge, Brightwater, formerly of Tophouse; Mr. William White, Chairman of the Waimea Road Board, formerly lessee of the Tarndale Reserves and land adjacent; Mr. Nathaniel Fowler, of Stoke, near Nelson, farmer. The meeting then adjourned.

Wednesday, 6th December, 1882. The Commission met at 10 a.m. Present: All the members. Mr. W. T. L. Travers, of Wellington; Mr. John Kerr, late a partner with Mr. Edwards in the Tarndale and Rainbow Runs; Mr. Donald McGregor; Mr. Jonathan Brough, of Nelson, contractor; Mr. James Crowe Richmond, of Nelson, engineer, and also Secretary of the Nelson Railway Committee; Mr. John George Blackett, Resident Engineer for Nelson and Marlborough; Mr. Henry Percival Pilkington, of Nelson; Mr. John Rochfort, C.E., Nelson, who handed in a statement and plans; Mr. Alfred Greenfield, Commissioner of Crown Lands, Nelson; Mr. Oswald Curtis, formerly Superintendent of Nelson Province; and Mr. John S. Browning, Chief Surveyor of Nelson Province, examined. The Commission then adjourned.

Wellington, Feiday, Bth Decembee, 1882. The Commission met in the Parliament Buildings at 12 a.m. Present; All the members. The Secretary was directed to request the attendance of Captain Johnson, Captain Fairchild, and Mr. Crombie, of the Property-Tax Office. The meeting then adjourned.

Sattteday, 9th Decembee, 1882. The Commission met at 10 a.m. Present: All the members. Captain Johnson, Captain Fairchild, and Mr. Crombie, of the Property-Tax Office, were examined. Mr. Crombie was also requested to furnish a statement re tenure of land, &c, along the proposed lines of railway. Resolved, That it is desirable to obtain the cost of the purchase of land for railway purposes northward from Amberley and southward from Blenheim, and also the result of any surveys that have been made of the several passes in the range between the East and the West Coasts of the Middle Island. The minntes of the last six meetings were read and confirmed. The meeting then adjourned.

Dunedin, Sattjbday, 3bd Febettaby, 1883. The Commissioners met in the Public Worts Office at Dunedin to consider their recort. Present : All the members. Mr. C. T. O'Connor was ifi attendance, and was examined as to certain portions of his memorandum and tables. Portions of the draft report having been discussed, the Commissioners adjourned until Monday, the sth instant, at 10 a.m.