H.—2B

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bring several centres of population into close contact with one another, and will also have the peculiar advantage of connecting districts of a totally dissimilar character. On the one side there is a pastoral and agricultural country, and on the other side a district containing timber, coal, iron, gold, and many other minerals in abundance. Besides its aid to commerce, the railway will be of great value as a means of enabling tourists, who now flock to New Zealand from every part of the world, to see some of the grandest scenery of the South Island. Along the route of the line there is a continuation of alpine, forest, lake, and river scenery which is unsurpassed anywhere. The beauties of the Otira Gorge and Arthur's Pass are already pretty well known, through being on the coach-road, but the lake and river scenery of the "Westland country, through which the railway will pass, has as yet been seen by few tourists. It is probable that the railway will lead to important discoveries of mineral resources. Mr. Blair, the Assistant Engineer-in-Chief, in his report to the New Zealand Government on the line, says that from Nelson down the West Coast to Otago there is scarcely twenty miles in which minerals of some economic value have not been discovered. Food-fishes. Behind tne picture-gallery are two cases of fish which have been preserved by ProfessorParker by a new process, which gives them the appearance of being freshly taken out of the water. They include five samples of trumpeter, sole, mackerel, ling, flounder, butterfish, and salmon-trout. An excellent specimen is to be seen of the hapuka species, weighing 1501b. This fish is closely allied to the Murray cod, but is often of a better flavour, as it is a deep-sea fish. This exhibit certainly suggests the opening there is for establishing a large trade in fish between Australia and New Zealand, by the freezing process. At the present time Melbourne is supplied with only one or two varieties, and these are only to be obtained at high prices. The demands of this city alone ought to render such a trade a profitable one. Timber Trophy. A trophy of New Zealand timber, which has been erected by the Commissioners, consists of some fine specimens of kauri, cedar, totara, black-, white-, red-, and yellow-pine; red-, black-, and white-birch; tea-tree (manuka), and other timbers. A large series of over 130 polished slabs and sections of large forest trees, exhibited by the Public Works Department, is also to be seen arranged in very effective dado-fashion around the picture-gallery which is attached to the Court. Flax Trophy. Another trophy consists of the products of native flax, which is now so largely used in connection with reaping-and-binding machines. Surveys. The department which controls the Crown lands and surveys of the colony seems to be admirably conducted, and every facility has been given for persons to make themselves acquainted with the geography and peculiarities of the attractive scenery of New Zealand. The Survey Department exhibit a series of maps, chromolithographs, &c. The physical map of New Zealand, which is Bft. by 10ft., and is drawn on a scale of eight miles to the inch, shows all the natural features of the colony, such as mountain-ranges, glaciers, lakes, and river-systems. The map is very beautifully executed, the compilation and projection of the polyconic system being by Mr. T. M. Grant, the hill-shading by Mr. J. M. Malings, and the writing by Mr. F. W. Flanagan. The land-tenure map, also drawn to a scale of eight miles to an inch, shows in distinctive colours the land owned by Europeans purchased from the Natives, the land owned by Europeans purchased from the Crown, the confiscated lands unsold, lands held by Natives under Crown title, lands over which the Native titles have not yet been extinguished, Native lands under negotiation to purchase by the Government, Crown lands still unsold and public reserves, Crown lands leased for pasture, and lands reserved for Native purposes. This map is a copy of the projection of the physical map, and, having regard to the purpose for which it has been constructed, it will perhaps be the one round which will centre the most interest, as showing to the eye in a graphic form the actual settlement and occupation of the colony. The writing was principally done by Mr. H. M. McCardell, and partly by Mr. Grant. Some of the vacant spaces of this map are filled, in with coloured diagrams, showing, from the year 1855 to the end of 1884, the progress of the colon)' in population, nationalities, and religions; number of children attending school; birth, death, and marriage rate; imports, exports, and total trades; land in cultivation ; yields of cereal- and i oot-crops ; sheep, horses, cattle, and other stock; number of holdings under cultivation; total deposits in the savings-bank; revenue and expenditure ; tonnage of shipping inward and outward ; miles of railway constructed ; telegraph-lines ; capital invested in land, buildings, and machinery, &c. Indeed, this map affords a complete history of the economic and industrial progress of the colony for the past thirty years. The statistics were compiled in the Eegistrar-General's office, but the arrangement and printing of the diagrams was by the Survey Department. Another map, for the practical purpose of enabling the people at Home to understand the model settlement of a new country, is the plan of the country round Mount Egmont, indicating the manner in which Crown lands are subdivided and mapped for the information of the public prior to their being offered for sale. On this map, which is drawn on a scale of 2in. to the mile, every section and road is clearly shown. Tbe numerous streams flowing down from Mount Egmont to the fertile Waimate plains, and the Opunake country right up to New Plymouth, with that noble cone Mount Egmont rising to a height of 8,260 ft. above the sea, shown in the background, in a beautifully artistic manner. The Auckland branch of the department has furnished a very interesting map of the extinct volcanoes of the Isthmus of Auckland, on which the well-known cones of Eangitoto, Mount Eden,