D.—2,

50

From the Clarence to the Awatere needs no special descripiion, as there are no great engineering difficulties. The section sufficiently shows (he line for the purposes of this report. Between Motunau and Cape Campbell there are nine places at which wool is shipped, and stores brought by steamers, and at the Kaikouras there are two small steamers trading, one of which runs weekly. It is not likely that the railway, if made, could compete with the steamers on the coast, freight by water being so much lower. Greenliills Line. —To avoid the bad ground between the Conway and Kahautara the Greenhills Hue has been proposed as an alternative. It commences at the Waiau Township, and falls inlo the East Coast line, at the Hapuka River. From the Waiau, the line follows up the Mason and Wandell Valleys to the Lottery Bush (Sherwood Forest), where a steep grade of lin 37 occurs. The Mason River beyond is favourable as far as the saddle of the Campbell, when the only feasible way is to follow partly down the Campbell, and grade round the Whale's Back to the Conway. I had no means of ascertaining this distance, so I cannot say what the grade would be, but Mr. Foy says of it, "Along Campbell's Creek the steepest grade is lin 25. No doubt this line could be somewhat improved in locality, but not sufficiently so to alter the general character of the work." The Conway is a river with cliffs 150 to 200 feet in height. This must be bridged somewhere, and at Mr. Foy's crossing it is 7 chains long and 150 feet high. If, instead of bringing the line down Campbell's Creek, the Whale's Back is adopted, then the ruling gradients are worse, being 1 in 28 and 1 in 7, and this route Mr. Foy leans to in his report, advising the use of special machinery, in preference to going down Campbell's Creek. Mr. Foy sums up thus: "On the Whale's Back line, the 1 in 7 grade may be improved to 1 in 15, but could only bo worked by special machinery; a better crossing of the Conway can be had with half the bridging ;" but he says, " Campbell's Creek can be worked with easier grades (1 in 25) but more difficult ground, costly in construction, and difficult of maintenance, and more liability to accident in working." After crossing the Conway, the high ground between it and the Charwell must be tunnelled. Leaving the Charwell, a valley lying to the east of Greenhills Station is the lowest ground available, but it can only be reached with very heavy formation. Beyond this, towards Kaikoura, the country falls very rapidly, and it seems difficult to get any less grade, in the first three miles, than 1 in 34, which Mr. Foy has put down, and then there are three creeks along the road line which I followed. All the creeks have high land between them. Crib Creek, which is nearly the last, is said to be more difficult to cross in a high flood than the larger rivers ; it has a wide shingle-bank, and would take a long bridge. Higher up the range, where the railway grade would come, the small creek valleys would spread flatter, and subdivide into several branches ; the larger ones continue without sensible diminution. From Swiucoinbe to the Hapuka no special difficulty appears to exist, but there will be a long bridge over the Kowai. Of the Greenhills route, Mr. Blair says : " Notwithstanding the steepness of the gradients, the trial section of the Greenhills lino shows a succession of cuttings and embankments far heavier than anything hitherto encountered in the railway works of New Zealand. In the first five miles north of the Whale's Back, the line crosses thirteen broad ravines, five of them being from 50 to 90 feet deep, and eight from 90 to IGO feet. Further on, the same section has four banks from 50 to 70 feet deep, and four from 90 to 160. The cuttings are all on the same gigantic scale, several being from GO to 80 feet deep, and a quarter of a mile long. There is, however, very little tunnelling on the Greenhills route." This seems to apply to the portion lying between the Conway and Crib Creek. Alternative Line to East Coast Line. —Another route has been talked of from the Waiau Township, and following down the Waiau Eiver, and connecting with the East Coast line at Parnassus. This line, instead of going through the Waiau Township, would have to cross the river two miles lower down, necessitating another bridge. About five miles would be through a gorge with steep hillsides, and a tunnel of 20 chains ; the remainder to Parnassus would be tolerably flat. The main difficulties would again be between the Conway and Kahautara. Edwards and Ada Saddles. —I also went vid Edwards Saddle to the Ada Saddle. The line up the Clarence from the Acheron is practicable, the general grades being as follow: Acheron to top Edwards Saddle, 1 in 119; Edwards (Peter's) Saddle to Racecourse, 1 in 144; Eacecourse to confluence "Waiau and Ada, lin 137 ; confluence Waiau and Ada to Ada Saddle, lin 51. The Edwards Saddle is a long, low ridge, which has two saddles, one falling towards the Clarence, which is slightly the lowest (perhaps 50 feet), the other (Peter's) leading to a long flat valley falling gently towards the Styx, which it reaches about a mile below St. James's Station. It being impossible to grade down to the valley level of the Edwards by reason of its great fall, the Eacecourse being some 530 feet above the Waiau Eiver bed, it would be necessary to grade down the side of the range, where there would be some heavy cutting on the shady side of the valley on to the Eacecourse, and thence the line would follow up the Waiau Eiver to the Ada. There would be some costly work between the Eacecourse and the Ada. Up the Ada to the saddle is tolerably easy, but the last few miles before reaching the saddle run close under the Spencer Eange, which towers up on the west side, and there are several distinct traces of avalanches having swept quite across the valley, shown by trees bent or thrown down. The ascent on to the actual saddle, and the descent for a short distance on the Maruia side, is hardly perceptible, but I think the snow at this saddle would be a difficulty, without some two or three miles of snow-sheds. The saddle lies very flat, and must have a through cutting, which is the worst railway formation for snow, because it is liable to wedge up. It is said that the Lewis Saddle is lower, and, being some miles away from the Spencer Eange, would not be subject to such heavy snow, besides that route being shorter. lam not prepared to report on the West Coast side. The following table will give a comparison between the various lines : —