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467. Did you do the same on the top of the drive ?—Yes. 468. Did you find these drives very wet?—l cannot say that they were, according to most of the drives that I have been in. In parts they were wetter; for instance, that one up in the airing-court. 469. In what parts were they ? —Between No. 4 and No. 5 shafts. 470. Will you describe the place on the plan?— Well, I am not very certain about it. 471. Say whereabouts it is. There is a projection here [indicating on plan]. Is it anywhere near that?—l think it is the drive that leads up to the northern end of the colonnade. It would be about 30ft. towards the sea. 472. The Chairman.} You describe that as the wettest piece?— No. The wettest was inside the airing-court. 473. Mr. Blair.] Did it require you to use timber in the shaft ? —Yes. 474. Much timber?— Yes ; we had sets of slabs every 3ft. 475. What quantity of water was running after the shaft was opened? Would it be 3in., 6in., or 12in. ?—lt was a mere trickle. There was nothing at the bottom of the shaft to speak of. 476. What sort of weather was it ?—lt was the winter-time. 477. The Chairman.'] You say that it was in the airing-court that you came across the water the worst ? —Yes. 478. Will you describe how the water came in ?—lt came in all round the sides of the drive. 479. What became of it?—lt was taken away with the mullock. 480. There was not sufficient water to run it away ?—No. 481. Then it was simply absorbed in the clay?— Yes ; with the mud that was taken out of the drive. 482. There were no indications of pressure on the timber—either from the sides or roof? —No. 483. Of course, there was some pressure; but I mean, were there any indications of any extraordinary pressure. Was the ground slipping at all ? —Oh, yes !it was slipping here and there, in pieces of " backs." 484. Mr. Lawson.} Where you came across this wet part that you have been speaking of, immediately behind the building, it was about this gable, w Tas it not ?—No :it was a little north of the set-off there. 485. The Chairman.] To the north of the gable of the airing-court ?—-Yes. 486. Mr. Lawson.] You say that the water was a mere trickle ?—Yes. 486 a. That means, I suppose, that it was absorbed ? —lt was absorbed in the mullock that was taken out. 487. The ground itself was naturally absorbing the water?— Yes. 488. You did not check the water—did not catch it ? —No. 489. The ground was of such a nature as to absorb it?— The ground was of a clayey nature. I do not think the water got through the ground in preference to going down the drain. 490. Still, you did not catch it ? —The only way we did take it away was in the mullock. 491. That evidently showed that there was an amount of water there which, being absorbed in the clay, formed the mullock, as you call it?— Yes. 492. Of course you drove through it. I presume you made a hole 2ft. by 3ft. 6in.; you did not dig the whole of the mullock away?— There was soft ground left on each side of the drive. 493. Then you simply pierced a hole through it ? —Yes. 494. The Chairman.] Let me clearly understand the nature of this ground. Do you mean to say that the water which came into the drive was absorbed by the excavated material, or that it was absorbed by the surrounding ground ?—I mean that it was taken away by the stuff taken out of the drive. 495. By the loose stuff? —Yes; there was never a flow along the drive. 496. When the stuff was removed, what became of the water that was left?— There was a lot of water —sufficient to fill the footmarks in the drive. 497. As to the nature of the ground that was driven through, was it loose, porous, or stiff clay, or loose clay? How would you describe it?—l should not say that it was porous, but I should say that it was loose clay, which appeared to hold water. It was pretty sticky stuff. 498. Do you think that the water v. ould soak into that ?—I do not think it would go far. 499. Mr. Skinner.] In making this drive, did you come across any sand of a porous nature ? — Yes; just a little before getting into that part here [indicating on plan]. 500. For what distance did you pass through that ?—About 18in. or 2ft. 501. Of what nature was that?—A sandy clay. 502. Of what colour was it ?—A bluish colour. 503. Would water flow out of it ? —I cannot say that water was flowing out of it; but it would be damp. 504. Then, there was not sufficient water to cause it to run ?—No. 505. It was simply damp ?—Yes. 506. Did you come across any other sand or sandy ground?— Yes ; at the other places I am speaking of there was sand. 507. At what point in the drive was that?— About 30ft. towards the sea from the north. 508. The Chairman.] That would be near Shaft 5 ?—Yes. 509. Mr. Skinner.] Was that about the point where the 2ft. of sand was passed through ? Have you any recollection cf it ?—lt would be about there. 510. Between 7 and 8 there is a little sand shown. Are you certain about the position?— Yes. 511. You put down all these shafts, I suppose? —Yes. 512. Mr. Blair.] How often did you put shafts down? First of all, how many shafts did you put in ?—Nine. 6—H. 7.