39

D.—2

it in steamers, and it must be exceedingly abrupt at all events as far as the Kaikoura Peninsula. The line from Blenheim to the saddle at Dashwood's Pass I should describe as simply a howling desolation. I know of no other term to apply to it. You must spend a great many thousands to reach, the land to be had round Q-rassmere. That line was selected simply because the height of the pass was less than that of Maxwell's Pass. Although Blenheim has been settled for a great number of years, and there are many beautiful farms and a great deal of excellent cultivation in that neighbourhood, there is scarcely to be found a shepherd's hut along the proposed line of railway; and that circumstance tends to show that there is not an acre of land there which is considered fit for cultivation. Of course a large proportion of laud going up the valley of the Wairau, after passing the Waihopai, is what would be called stony and rough land. Nevertheless there is a very considerable extent of it available for settlement, especially on the western side. I believe that every portion of that valley is capable of producing human food. 783. Mr. Fulton.'] What is the price of coal at the pit's mouth at Brunnerton ? —-lls. or 11s. 6d. per ton, but that is owing practically to the small consumption. "Were there a possibility of exporting the coal in the quantity in which it could be produced, the price would be considerably reduced, because the same number of men who are necessarily kept at the mine would produce a very much larger quantity of coal. They are obliged to keep the men on wages, but, there being no sufficient facilities for export from the Grey, the cost of producing the coal at the mines is proportionately much increased. My own belief is that the coal could be put out at the pit's mouth, if there were proper facilities for export, at 7s. 6d. a ton. The Brunner coal gives about 6| tons to what is called an ordinary railway coal truck. The Wallsend, which belongs to the Westport Colliery Company, is said to give 6f tons. It is a denser coal, taken from a greater depth. The Coalpit Heath Mino is not very satisfactorily worked, but it _yields a coal similar to that of the Brunner. Some few miles from the north of the mouth of the G-rey, is a place called Port Elizabeth, which it is said could be converted into a good shipping place without any great difficulty ; and, if that were so, it would enable the Coal Creek mines to be worked also, so that the output from the whole of the mines might reach over a million of tons per annum ; but that would, as you see at once, necessitate a very large amount of shipping. I am satisfied, from what I saw there, and what I heard from the managers, who had no interest in giving me false information on the point, that the yield of coal from the G-rey mines alone is a matter of very great importance indeed to the colony. 784. Can you tell the price free on board ? —I cannot say. I did not ask. It would be made up of several elements. After undergoing two screenings, the coal passes direct, by shoots, into the trucks, and I take it that the cost, free on board, would be compounded of the cost at the pit's mouth, the railway freight, and whatever charge there might be in delivering it into the holds of the ships, which lie alongside the wharf. The coal, I believe, passes directly from the trucks into the holds of the vessels. Mr. Bishop, the manager at the Brunner mines, led me to understand that they could increase their output threefold without any difficulty, and at a very great reduction in the cost of production, if there were shipping facilities and sufficient bottoms to carry the coal. 785. Do you know at what price it could be delivered at the various ports ? —I do not. Independent of other considerations, the importance of providing for the carriage by rail of the productions of the West Coast to the East has always weighed with me very strongly in connection with any projected trunk line between the North and South. I am quite satisfied that the area of land from the Teremakau north to the line of the Buller would afford the means of settling a very large population. The country changes immediately you pass out of the valley of the Grey, from the place called Marsden to Hokitika. To the south of the watershed between these rivers there are not a thousand acres upon which you could grow a cabbage. The whole area seems to consist entirely of gravel, valueless for any purpose except the extraction of gold. The change in the vegetation is palpable immediately on crossing the watershed between the Teremakau and the Grey. All up the Grey you see very nice farms, and great capacity for improvement. Mr John Keek, Lake Eun, examined. 786. Mr. Fell: You were for some years the joint-owner, with the late Mr. Nathaniel Edwards, of Tarndale and the Rainbow ?—Yes. 787. You had the sole management of the country ?—Yes. 788. And you are thoroughly familiar with the whole of it?— Yes. 789. For how many years did you own that country with Mr. Edwards.—Ten or eleven. 790. What was its extent, freehold and leasehold ?—I had only about 100 or 200 acres of freehold at Tarndale ; the rest was all leasehold. The leasehold land would be 70,000 or 75,000 acres. 791. What stock had you upon it?— When I sold it I had from 20,000 to 25,000 sheep, and about 600 head of cattle. It was not then fully stocked. There are a great many more on it now. They have 1,600 head of cattle and 26,000 or 27,000 sheep. 792. You think it will carry these ? —Yes. 793. What is your opinion of it as a stock-carrying country ? —lt is as good country as I know Qf. It is not quite so good as down lower. It is the best fattening country I know of in the country. 794. Did you breed there ?—Not much. 795. Why not ?—Because we could buy cheaper, and it is essentially a fattening country. If I bred lambs I had to keep them till they grew. If I bought sheep they were already grown, and all I had to do was to fatten them and sell them. 796. Were your operations ever interrupted by the severity of the weather ? —Of course I had to stop in the house when it rained or snowed, but when it cleared up I went to work. The snowfall was never such as to hinder me in my work. 797. Besides its,capacity as a stock-growing country what else would it grow besides grass?— In places it would grow anything—wheat, barley, or anything of that sort. I never grew better vegetables. I cannot grow vegetables to equal them, even in Nelson. 798. Where were these fine vegetables grown ?—At the Rainbow. We had a small garden at Tarndale, where they grew equally well.