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vegetation, lines for roads, reserves, &c. —information ■which it is essential should be in the hands of the department, in order to an intelligent dealing with the lands for settlement purposes. T4ie general triangulation of thf colony has now advanced so far as to be well in advance of all requirements for settlement surveys, and it will, therefore, in the future be a diminishing quantity from year to year. Settlement Surveys. Under this heading, which comprises the sections of land marked out for occupation by the settlers, there was an area of 319,477 acres surveyed into 1,855 lots, at a cost of Is. 4'4d. per acre, which is slightly less than the average cost for last yeair, and considerably less than that for previous years, which is due to the larger-sized sections allowed under the present Land Act. The largest part of this area is under forest, and when it' is taken into consideration that most of the road-lines are graded—in those places where it is required,—and that all the boundaries are marked so that the selector can have no difficulty in ascertaining the limits of his property, the cost must be considered very small. In addition to the area thus marked out, over 87,000 acres have been so prepared, by running road-lines through them, that the lands could be thrown open for " selection before survey." By this means the department has been enabled to meet the wants of would-be settlers in much shorter time than under the former system ; but from a survey point of view it has its drawbacks, and can only be applied when the circumstances are favourable, and a somewhat complete knowledge of the country has previously been obtained. The cost of sectional surveys is not likely to decrease, for the most available and level lands are nearly all occupied, and therefore, as the surveys are pushed back into the more broken and rugged country, the cost must, to a certain extent, increase with the greater difficulty of securing properly-graded road-lines. There are in many of the land districts arrears of surveys which have from various causes been standing over for years, such for instance as the demarcation of boundaries of properties sold prior to survey under the provincial administrations, and, again, surveys required for the issue of Crown grants for properties which were sold from survey plans which, in many cases, are deficient in the necessary elements for the preparation of titles. This class of work is usually taken in hand when the surveyors happen to have work in its immediate neighbourhood, but many years must elapse ere all of these arrears can be worked off. Surveys fob, Native Land Court Purposes. Surveys to carry out the orders of the Native Land Court, or to prepare fresh lands for the operations of the Court, or for the purchase of lands by the Government amounted in the aggregate to 745,952 acres, in 350 blocks or divisions. Very little of this work was executed by the Government staff, nearly the whole of it being done by the authorised surveyors under instructions from the department, but generally at the cost of the Maori applicants. This area does not represent so much land now for the first time brought under the operation of the Native land laws, but it more generally consists of partitions of lands already dealt with in former years in large areas, which came in during the year for subdivision, and included in it are also some Native reserves subdivided into small areas. A large amount of laud is now under survey in the so called King-country, for the purpose of issuing titles ordered by the Court ; and, so far, the Government has agreed to advance the cost of such surveys, securing themselves by liens on the land. Gold a.nd other Mining Surveys. Considerable activity in this particular branch of work has characterized the past year ; 513 quartz, alluvial, dredging, and other claims, covering an area of 17,160 acres, having been marked out, partly by the Government staff and partly by the authorised surveyors. The cost in all cases is deposited by the applicants prior to survey. The discovery of tin in Stewart Island has led to a considerable number of claims for mineral leases being applied for in that locality, and the survey of some 50 additional claims is now nearly completed in the field. Road Surveys. Included in the 272 mijes of road shown in the returns are about 50 miles of railway surveyed for purposes of Proclamation. The balance consists of roads laid out to give access to isolated blocks of Crown lands, or roads taken in exercise of the rights reserved under the Native Land and other Acts,