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Sess. 11.—1887. NEW ZEALAND.

SURVEYS OF NEW ZEALAND. (REPORT FOR 1886-87.)

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

Sir,— General Survey Office, Wellington, 30th August, 1887. I have the honour to submit the annual report of the operations of the Survey Department for the twelve months ended the 30th June, 1887. The work is very similar in character from year to year, which admits of its being arranged under the same headings and tables, thereby affording an easy means of comparison between the out-turn of the several years. The general summary of the field-work for the twelve months under report is as follows :— Area. Bate per Acre. Cost. £ s. d. £ s. d. Major triangulation ... ... ... 1,177,771 acres 0 0 0-44 2,184 14 11 Minor triangulation ... ... ... 696,366 „ 0 0 0-81 2,366 19 3 Topographical and trigonometrical survey ... 1,512,589 „ 0 0 1-02 6,470 14 9 Rural and suburban ..._ ... ... 279,737 „ 02 1 29,130 1 4 „ for associations ... ... 63,853 „ 0 2 o's Town-section survey ... ... ...{ plots')! X 5 4(lUot) 1 2 63 3 * Native Land Court survey... ... ... 68,465 acres 0 0 4-6 1,3131610 „ at cost of Maori owners 145,583 „ Native Land Purchase survey ... ... 274,845 „ 0 0 067 746 8 5 „ „ at cost of Native Dept. 416,235 „ Mining surveys ... ... ■■• 6,509 „ 0 5 11-5 1,941 310 Eoads and railways ... ... ... 358f miles 14 4 4 5,136 14 8 Miscellaneous surveys ... ... •■• •■• ■■• 7,401 9 5 £57,955 6 6 The total expenditure on the field- and office-work was .£94,404 16s. 10d., of which a sum of £25,298 16s. 9d. was refunded for services rendered to other departments of Government, and for fees recovered for mining and other surveys, leaving £69,106 chargeable against Crown lands surveys. In no former year has the expenditure been so small. It is less by £9,505 on that of last year, and less by £35,175 a year on the annual average of the previous nine years. The decrease in expenditure is not due to any change of system, but to the fact that the triangulation and other standard works are now so well advanced that operations in these classes of survey have been much curtailed of late. In the actual settlement surveys, howeVer, there has been no curtailment, for both the areas and number of sections surveyed last year are considerably in excess of the two preceding years. There is still a considerable legacy of old land claims imperfectly surveyed, which require revision before the grants can be issued, and there are road-rights to be exercised before the right lapses. But, notwithstanding those arrears, in future the main strength of the survey staff can be devoted to the settlement surveys. Triangulation. The principal triangulations were of the interior of the North Island, on the borders of the Auckland and Wellington Provincial Districts, covering the south portion of the Kingcountry and the Waimarino Block. The surveyors employed were Mr. L. Cussen in the

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