required for the defence of these harbours, and, with this object, the services of an Imperial officer—Major Cautley, R.E.—have been placed at the disposal of the Government. The question of the defence of New Zealand has been ably reported upon by Major-General Scratchley, but, his visit to the colony being necessarily brief, he was unable to undertake the supervision of the designs of works necessary for the object, and no sufficient idea of the probable cost of them was at the time entertained. Of all parts of Australasia, New Zealand, owing to her extensive seaboard and numerous harbours, is most in need of local naval protection. The principle on which the defence of the colony must be based is, that whilst the general protection of its commerce and seaboard is provided for by naval means, the chief cities and ports should be rendered secure in themselves by land batteries, submarine mines, and other local defences. By fortifying these places, the chief centres of wealth are absolutely protected, whilst each becomes a focus of refuge or action for the general naval defence. The main general plan should therefore be to fortify Auckland Harbour, Port Nicholson, Port Lyttelton, Port Chalmers, and the Bluff Harbour; thus setting free the Imperial cruizers and any local naval force we may possess, and thereby greatly strengthening our power of general maritime defence. In fact, the fortification of these five ports is part and parcel of the naval defence of the colony. It is obviously impossible, however, to fortify all the harbours of New Zealand. There are in this colony what I may call clusters of ports, at the north, the centre, and the south, which are capable of sheltering large ships, but at which there is only a small, in some cases no, population. In the north, besides Auckland, there are other fine harbours in Hauraki Gulf, viz., Kawau Harbour, Tamaki Strait, Coromandel Harbour; and, in the Great Barrier Island, Port Fitzroy and Port Abercromby. Again, to the northward of these, are Whangarei Harbour and the Bay of Islands (in both of which there are coal mines), Whangaroa Harbour, and Doubtless Bay. In the centre, besides Wellington, are Queen Charlotte's Sound, Nelson, Picton, and other ports and anchorages. To the southward of the Bluff Harbour there are, in Stewart Island, the grand harbours of Patterson's Inlet and Port Pegasus. At this part of the colony, moreover, to the south-west of the Middle Island, there are the numerous harbours at the Sounds. The protection of all these, as also that of Napier, New Plymouth, Timaru, Oamaru, Hokitika, Greymouth, Westport, and other comparatively minor places, must be provided for by local naval forces acting as auxiliaries to Her Majesty's cruisers, and combined as far