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repair it it had to be cut back, and a length of nearly two chains formed anew. The side of the range was scored by the water like corrugated iron. The race has been very free from breaks during the year, this being the only one of any consequence. The season on the whole has been a dry and cold one; snow fell during every month of the year. On several occasions the miners had to be put on half-time, as the race is not large enoughlto carry the quantity required, even when there is plenty of water. Seventeen elevating claims at work in the district during the year, twelve of them being supplied from the Government race, using fifty-three heads per day. Six parties have been during the year intermittently sluicing in the Maori bottom. The number of days on which no water was supplied to the mines was —winter, 27 ; Christmas, 1 ; New year, 1; Naseby races, 2—a total of 31 days. The winter was an extraordinary short and open one. The subsidence in the Eweburn Reservoir dam-bank was filled up to its original level. Blackstone Hill Race. The total sales of water from this race during the year amounted to £34 9s. 7d. The total cash received was £34 9s. 7d. The total cost of maintenance and repairs was £19 Bs. The number of miners supplied with water was three. The only party supplied from this race is R. Johnstone and Sons. The accumulation of sandbanks and heavy side growth necessitated its getting a good cleaningout, as it has had very little done to it since 1903-4. I have, &c, R. Murray, Manager. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. Dr. J. M. Bell, Director Geological Surveys, to the Under-Secretary, Mines Department.Wellingtou. Sir,— Mines Department (Geological Survey Branch), Wellington, Ist June, 1906. I have the honour herewith to present the annual report of the Geological Survey Department for the period ending the 31st December, 1905, the first one since the reorganization of the Survey in March of the same year. In connection with the reorganization of the Survey, provision was made for the retention of the services of the Government Geologist, Mr. A. McKay, who had been conducting the entire geological work carried on by the Government for some years prior to my arrival, and, in addition, for the appointment of the following officers under the Director's supervision : (1) Topographer—to have charge of all the topographical work of the survey ; (2) General Geologist—to conduct geological surveys in areas of general geological interest; (3) Mining Geologist—to carry on surveys in areas in which mining is or was an active industry ; (4) Draughtsman—to prepare the necessary maps for publication as the result of the field labours of the Director, Topographer, General Geologist, and Mining Geologist; (5) Shorthand writer and typist—to have charge of the general office work, library, &c. Besides these permanent officers, allowance was made for the appointment of temporary assistants on the various field staffs, and for the obtaining of skilled assistance, if required, during the summer season for extra work. The first geological survey of all New Zealand was started in 1867, when, on the 10th October of that year, an Act was passed by the New Zealand Government " to establish an Institute for the Advancement of Science and Art in New Zealand, and to make provision for the carrying-out of the geological survey of the colony " ; the provincial surveys then at work being discontinued.* Sir James Hector—then Dr. Hector—was chosen Director of the Geological Survey, an office which he ably filled with many others until his retirement in 1903. With Sir James Hector several gentlemen were associated, those whose geological work is of most prominence being Mr. S. Herbert Cox (now Director of the London School of Mines), Captain F. W. Hutton, F.R.S., Mr. A. McKay, F.G.S., and Professor James Park, E.G.S. The hearty appreciation of the officers of the present Geological Survey is due to the Director and staff of this early Survey, the pioneers of geological work in New Zealand. When Sir James Hector first took charge of the Survey the difficulties of travel were enormous. The country contained comparatively few roads and practically no railways. Communication was mainly by rough tracks, or by boats along a generally dangerous coast. One marvels at what was accomplished with so small a staff under such conditions. Now most of the country is open to communication by roads, railroads, or tracks. In addition to good facilities of travel now available to us we have the successful results of the labours of the former Survey on which to base our geological operations, while to our predecessors in commencing their work the geology of the country was unknown. Our work is in great part a detailed study of features mapped broadly by the former Survey, and to a less degree of a reconnaissance survey of areas which are still practically a terra incognita. For purposes of reference, a list is inserted of the officers of the original Geological Survey from the time of its inception until it became part of the Mines Department in 1893. Officers of the Geological Survey between 1866 and 1893. Hector, Sir James, K.C.M.G, F.R.S., &c, Director. Park, James, F.G.S. Buchanan, J., draughtsman (retired 1885, died 1898). Palethorpe, H, engraver. Cox, S. Herbert, Assistant Geologist. Pierard, C. H, draughtsman. Gore, R. 8., clerk (died 1904). Rayer, W., assistant. Hutton, Captain F. W., F.R.S. (died October, 1905). Paul, J., field assistant (1885). Davis, E. H. Skey, W., Analyst to Survey. McKay, A., F.G.S., Geologist.

• * "Colonial Museum Bulletin," No. 1, 1905.