C—6

of some 26 acres of an existing scenic reserve was cancelled and the land added to ail adjoining Crown leasehold, while in exchange an area of 113 acres of steep, broken country reverting to native bush (with kauri predominating) was surrendered from the leasehold and added to the reserve. In this locality also an area of 53 acres of unoccupied Crown land covered in light bush with some kauri regeneration showing was set aside under the Act. The new reserve area lies just across the Waipu Stream from a reserve set apart in 1927. Two areas in the Wellington Land District were made scenic reserves during the year. One was an area of 21 acres of bush-clad papa cliffs on the Rangitikei River near Mangaweka. The land was reserved many years ago as primary-education endowment, and special legislation (section 8 of the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Act, 1948) was passed declaring it to be subject to the Scenery Preservation Act. The second area was an island of 26 acres of Crown land (Winter's Island) in the Wanganui River near Taumarunui. Reservations totalling 1,115 acres were made in the Marlborough Land District, particulars being as follows : (a) An area of 210 acres at Nydia Bay, Pelorus Sound, consisting of shady hillsides reverting to native bush, and adjoining an existing reserve. (b) Three areas totalling 741 acres in Kaiuma Bay, Pelorus Sound, partly in bush and partly in second growth. These areas were formerly held under lease, but proved unsuitable for farming, and as reversion is rapid on the shady faces it was considered they should be set aside as permanent reserves. (c) Three areas totalling 164 acres in the vicinity of Pelorus Bridge as extensions of the well-known reserves in that beautiful locality. Nelson District reservations totalled 1,993 acres, made up as follows : (a) An area of 457 acres of bush land on D'Urville Island purchased from a private owner. (b) An area of 283 acres of bush land on the Inangahua River. The Reefton - Lewis Pass Highway passes through this reserve. (c) An area of 90 acres of attractive bush on the main highway on the northern bank of the Mokihinui River. (d) An area of 293 acres on Pelorus Sound near French Pass. This land is in bush and second growth, and lies alongside an existing reserve. (e) An area of 160 acres of steep country (mostly bush-clad) situated near the junction of the Inangahua and Buller Rivers. (f) An area of 530 acres of steep bush country on the Takaka Hill Road a few miles from Upper Takaka. K g) A number of small islands in the G-owan River alongside the road to Lake Rotoroa, totalling some 180 acres. They carry a good growth of native vegetation and form an attractive feature along the road to the lake. Westland reservations were those of an area of 32 acres (formerly State forest) on the banks of the Kaniere River, and an area of 537 acres of broken limestone terraces and slopes covered with dense bush of great scenic value on the Punakaiki River (Westport-Greymouth Road). In the Port Levy district, Banks Peninsula, Canterbury, a small area of just under 2 acres of bush land was made a permanent reserve on the subdivision of the Port Levy farm settlement. Previous owners of the property had always treated this small patch of bush (now the sole remaining piece in the Port Levy Valley) as a scenic spot and reserve, and it is hoped that the bush will survive and prove of interest to many people as an example of the type of forest that existed in the valley in the early days of settlement.

2