3

C.—lα.

been sen! iii. Out of the 717 acres, an area of some 530 acres has been completed in the field but not yet mapped. The unsurveyed select ions of Crown land are st ill greatly in arrear, especially in the Nelson District, where they amount to about 126,710 acres, of which the survey of about 25,000 acres has been completed in the field. It is hoped to materially reduce these arrears during the coming season by the employment of additional staff and contract surveyors. Native Surveys. During the year 319,170 acres were surveyed, comprising 233,193 acres of Native Land Court, and 85,983 acres of Maori Land Board, distributed in the four North Island districts of Auckland, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki. and Wellington. Of the 233,193 acres 42,233 acres were surveyed by staff surveyors, while 190,960 acres were surveyed by licensed surveyors, 130,650 acres of which were paid for by the Native owners. Of the 85,983 acres, 70.321 acres were surveyed by the staff surveyors (34,153 acres being provisional work) and 15,662 acres by licensed surveyors. The survey of Native lands now in progress amount to 213,472 acres, of which 16,445 acres have been completed In the field, and practically also the outline survey of D'Urville Island, 40,469 acres, but the subdivision-lines have yet to be run, and a few triangles to observe over the lower end and connecting it to the mainland. Gold-mining Surveys. One hundred and twenty-three sections have been surveyed during the year, comprising 6,517 acres: Auckland, 56 ; Nelson, 11 ; Otago, 42 ; and Southland, 14. Standard Surveys. The work coming under this head has been under the supervision of Mr. J. Langmuir, who has associated with him Mr. H. M. Kensington. That of Auckland City and suburbs has been pushed on as fast as possible, and a great amount of extra work lias been entailed through the necessity for replacing standard blocks that had been disturbed through alteration in the permanent levels of various street-lines, &c. In addition to this, examination was made on the ground and estimates prepared of the probable cost of making standard surveys of practically all the suburbs around the City of Auckland, approximating 100 miles of si reels and roads. The survey of Rotorua has been completed by Mr. Kensington, while that of Takapuna, also in his hands, is expected to be finished in two week's time. Inspection of Surveys. In April of last pear, Messrs. Langmuir, Climie, and Allom were appointed Inspectors of Surveys and attached to the Head Office staff, although for convenience of work they continued to reside in their respective districts of Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury. During the year a considerable number of field inspection have been made throughout the Dominion of both staff and private surveyors' work. Most of these have proved very satisfactory, but a few (about, half a dozen) have been found very faulty indeed, and further action may yet have to be taken in connection therewith. The great urgency for subdivision by certain fixed (bites of runs, land-for-settlements blocks, &c., also the continuation of city standard surveys and the measurement of base-line for extension of the secondary triangulation. has occupied a good deal of the Inspector's time, and prevented as many field inspections being made as otherwise would have been the case ; but I trust during the coming season to devote move attention to this very necessary and important work. Our regular inspecting staff is, however, very small, and as there is sure to be. and, indeed now is, a very greal deal of survey-work to be done for opening-tip of Crown and Native lands, more especially in the Auckland District, it may be necessary to appoint one of the senior District Surveyors to act as Inspecting Surveyor for the southern portion of the Auckland District in place of Mr. Haszard, who was transferred to Christchurch. Mr. District-Surveyor Wheeler acts as Inspecting Surveyor for the northern portion of the Auckland District, and has recently had to attend to portions of the south also. In cases of special urgency the Chief Surveyors have been authorized to employ one of their senior District Surveyors, when they can be spared, to make field inspections. Tidal Survey. For some time negotiations have been in progress with the Marine Department, for this Department to undertake the harmonic analysis of the tides of the Dominion and the calculation of tide-tables for insertion in the New Zealand Nautical Almanac.