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passable, and the factory-made cheese of this province is immeasurably superior to it. The native cheese is not cheese at all, and is only used by the very poor. Two or three times during my short visit there was no cheese to be obtained in Eio. I can buy the best cheese in Auckland, wholesale, from 6d. to Bd. per lb. Auckland cheese would fetch from £4 to £5 per cwt. in Eio, which is a much better price than that obtained for New Zealand cheese in the London market. I think the last English quotation for New Zealand cheese was £3 3s. per cwt. Of course, a direct supply would require to be kept up. There is no butter making of any account in the whole Empire. The butter used comes from France and other countries. It is generally packed in lib., 21b., and 41b. tins. It is fresh and passable, and is retailed at 2s. 9d. per lb. It may sometimes be cheaper, but that is the price at which my brother was retailing it while I was there. I did not see any salt butter. New Zealand salt butter in kegs should sell well there. It could be retailed at the low price of Is. 6d. per lb., and return a handsome profit to the exporter. The price of fresh meat is much the same as here, and the quality very good. The mutton is not so good. There is a considerable ■ quantity of American tinned meat consumed. The labels on the tins are in English, as, indeed, they are on all English and American goods; but I think it would be an advantage to label any goods sent from New Zealand in Portuguese, so that the people could know what they were buying. The labels should be translated literally into Portuguese. I saw considerable quantities of New Zealand potatoes in the shops of Eio. These were marked, " Nova Zelandia Batatos " (New Zealand Potatoes). They had just arrived by one of the direct steamers from Canterbury, and appeared to create a good deal of interest, as I heard a lot of talk about them. The shipment I saw was sent in sacks, and did not appear as good as the American potatoes, being considerably bruised. The Madeira and American potatoes sent to Brazil are always packed in loosely-made wooden cases, holding a hundredweight each. The potatoes so packed arrive safely. In good condition, New Zealand potatoes are immeasurably superior to those from Madeira and the States. The average retail price while I was there was Bs. per cwt. The great thing is to have the potatoes properly packed. Let them be placed on the market in as good a condition as the potatoes imported from other countries, and the consumers would use nothing else. The ham and bacon is principally American. While I was there it was being retailed at 2s. per lb. The smoked ham is preferred to that done up in cloth. Bacon is retailed at from Is. 6d. to Is. Bd. per lb. I did not see any New Zealand ham or bacon in Brazil, and my brother told me that it was never imported, to his knowledge. I believe New Zealand bacon and ham would suit the trade better than the American. We could export it quite as cheaply. In return for our produce, Brazil could send us coffee, tobacco-leaf, mate (a native tea), and sundry other minor articles of commerce. Brazilian coffee is the finest in the world, and if imported direct to New Zealand it would reduce the price very much. Pure-grown coffee is retailed in Eio at Bd.; the same quality could not be retailed under Is. Bd. The cured-tobacco leaf, ready to be made into cigars, could, I think, be landed in Auckland at 7d. per lb. I understand that the Auckland companies are paying the farmers here from Bd. to Is. per lb. for the uncured leaf. Ido not think the Brazilians import any tobacco. lam a smoker, and know good tobacco when I smoke it, and can say that I have never smoked better tobacco than the Brazilian tobacco. It is retailed at l,ooor. per kilo.—that is, Is. Bd. for 2J lb. Mate is the ground wood-shrub that grows wild in all parts of Brazil, and is used as tea. Chinese tea is very dear. My brother was retailing tea for 3s. 4d. per lb. which in Auckland I could sell for 2s. I presume that the small quantity used is the cause of the high price. The mate is retailed at 4d. per lb. The taste of the infusion is almost like tea, the flavour being much stronger. The doctors say that its use is more healthy than tea, and I feel certain that if introduced here it would be largely used as a flavouring for tea, and probably by itself. These are the only articles that I made special inquiries about; but I believe that a good trade could be opened up for kauri timber and sashes and doors. Although there are splendid forests of hardwood, there is no soft wood equal to kauri, and they have no sawmills or wood-working manufactures, all the timber required for building being sawn in pits or imported from America. While I think there is a splendid opening for New Zealand produce in Brazil, I feel certain that it would not prove lucrative unless return voyages were made from Brazil to New Zealand, as the importers of our goods would expect us to take some of theirs in return. If the direct steamers came out via Eio as well as going Home by that route, it would be right enough; but I think that a handy cargo-steamer of two or three thousand tons burden, running from Auckland to Eio and back, would be the best method of developing the trade. The steamer "Triumph" would suit admirably. lam certain that, once the trade was established, return cargoes could be obtained in Eio in two or three days. The round trip from Auckland to Eio and back need not occupy more than fifty days. The facilities for loading and discharging are good. While I was in Brazil I had the pleasure of meeting the Emperor, Dom Pedro. My brother is a leading citizen of Eio Grande, and while I was visiting him, the Emperor being on a visit to that part of the country, he was entertained by my brother. The Emperor and one of his suite were conversing about the then expected arrival of the " Doric " with frozen meat from New Zealand, when my brother mentioned I had just arrived from that colony. His Majesty asked to see me, and I was ushered into the Imperial presence. The Emperor treated me very kindly, and asked many questions about the colony. He took great interest in the kauri forests, having read Hochstetter's work on the colony. I told him that I thought a good trade could be established, when he pointed out that a direct steamer from New Zealand to Brazil would suit the trade better than the present direct steamer from New Zealand to England.

No. 5. "_ Messrs. Masefibld and Co., of Batley, Kaipara, to the Hon. E. Stout, Premier, Sib,— Batley, 21st April, 1885. We have the honour to bring under your notice the following facts in connection with your recent visit to the Kaipara, which we trust you will consider worthy of your notice. The chief