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APPENDICES.

APPENDIX I.—SUBVEYS. AUCKLAND. Minor Trigonometrical and Topographical Survey. —Under this heading work has been returned amounting to 25,123 acres, the cost being l-36d. per acre, anything further being but check points in connection with other surveys. Rural and Suburban. —The year's finished output amounts in all to 117,503 acres, subdivided into 415 sections, at an average cost of 2'o2s. per acre. The area is considerably less than last year, and the rate per acre higher. A great deal of this area, as is usual in the Auckland District, is in heavily timbered country, often in remote districts, and it is only reasonable to expect that the further back and more scattered the surveys get the greater the expense, particularly with unsurveyed spotting applications. These surveys are chiefly located in the Counties of Rotorua, Piako, Ohinemuri, Opotiki, Hobson, and Awakino, the surveyors being Messrs. Barron, Thompson, Kensington, Edgecumbe, Haszard, Allom, Seaton, Stretton, Martin, and Galbraith. In addition to the above, but also for purely settlement purposes, 110,113 acres of topographical surveys for selection as "unsurveyed land," at a cost of 2"3d. per acre, has been prepared, the object being, after locating in a rapid manner roads and topographical features with sufficient accuracy, to define sections approximately. The Department is thus in a position to throw open settlement areas much sooner than would be the case if finished surveys were undertaken from the first. This class of work has been adopted with good results in Opotiki and Piako Counties by Messrs. Allom, Byrne, Mitchell, Thompson, and Haszard; therefore, adding these areas to the completed sectional work, it brings the total annual settlement surveys up to 227,616 acres for the season. Town Section Survey. —An area of 1 6519 acres under this heading, subdivided into 354 allotments, has been completed. Land for Settlements. —During the most of the season there has been a good deal of rush with this class of work, which comprised areas in the Selwyn, Mangawhero, and Mangapouri Estates, aggregating in all to about 26,036 acres; whilst in another class of settlement—viz., the workers' homes sections, in the neighbourhood of Otahuhu, Penrose, and Ellerslie—the plans completed comprised 228 allotments. The Waimana Estate, of 4,731 acres, in the Whakatane County, is also well forward, and it is hoped will be ready for offering in June. _ Native Land Court avd Board Surveys. —Under this heading no less than 141,536 acres, subdivided in 92 divisions, were surveyed, at an average cost of 208 d. per acre; the quota of the staff to this total being 122,712 acres in 73 subdivisions, at an average cost per acre of 1'65d., the staff surveyors being Messrs. Wheeler, Blake, Mitchell, and Mountfort, their labours being largely of a provisional character, in order to assist the Native Land Court and Council in their investigations and decisions. The areas operated on by the staff lay chiefly in the Mongonui, Bay of Islands, and Rotorua Counties. I need hardly remark that but for the magnitude of these operations the output of the purely settlement surveys would have been much greater. The portion of the work undertaken by private and contract surveyors amounted to 18,824 acres, in 19 subdivisions, the cost, so far as known, averaging 4"92 d. ; but I have no information, however, as to the expenditure on 59,319 acres additional. Gold-mining Surveys.— All surveys of this class undertaken were carried out by contract surveyors, and consisted of 1,162 acres in 17 sections, costing on an average s'9ns. Road Surveys. —These in all totalled into 57-88 miles, at an average cost of £25"4 per mile, very much higher than last year. The increase in price is somewhat hard to account for. In forest country, however, there is this to be said, that often a single mile costs more to locate and survey than another ten miles under more favourable conditions; another factor being the character and nature of the survey of the holdings through which the road passes. These surveys were principally taken by virtue of rights existing under the Crown or Native Land Acts as well as deviations, and were very often made to give access to holdings without any practicable road. Other Work. —Under this designation are included all classes of our operations that cannot find a place in any of the columns of the general return, the principal items this year being inspection surveys, reporting on Native blocks, timber and timber-measuring, flax estimates and appraisements, showing settlers over Crown lands, and land for settlements estates, repair and maintenance of pack-tracks into Crown lands, defining old boundaries, repairs to trig, stations, preliminary surveys and examinations of Native blocks, and miscellaneous reports of all kinds' All these are necessary and unavoidable, but they often interfere very seriously with the work of our outside officers, and large as the cost is it could readily be doubled if all requests by local bodies, settlers, and others were complied with. Survey Inspections .—During the year the Inspecting Surveyor has made in all 41 inspections of staff, contract, Land Transfer, and Native Land Court surveyors' work full diagrams of which have been forwarded to you from time to time, the cost of this part of Mr Langmuir's duties being £468 9s. sd. ; his other work being of a miscellaneous character, such as reports standard surveys, repairs to trig, stations, surveyors' examinations, standard survey Auckland City, &c, amounting to £287 12s. 4d. Taken all together, there is a marked improvement in the character of the work, although there are instances where there is room for improvement One case in particular has been brought under your notice as requiring special attention I have much pleasure in drawing your attention to the results of 65 closures from 20 staff surveyors disclosing