Page 3 Advertisements Column 4

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4933, 13 January 1877, Page 3

Government Notices ZEALAND RAILWAYS NAPIER-MANAWATU RAILWAY—KOPUA BRIDGE CONTRACT. Public Works Office Wellington, 20th December, 1876. WRITTEN TENDERS will be received at this office up to NOON on WEDNESDAY, [ the 31st JANUARY, 1876, for the above; contract. They must be addressed to the Hon.' the Minister £or Public Works, Wellington, and marked outside . “ Tender for Kopua Bridge Contract." Plans and specifications may be seen at the Public Works Offices, Auckland, Wellington, Napier, Foxton, and Wanganui. Telegraphic tenders, similarly addressed and marked, will ’be received if presented at any Telegraph Office by NOON of the same date, provided that written tenders in due form are lodged at a District or Resident Engineer’s Office by the same hour, and accompanied by a cheque on some bank in the town where the tender is lodged ; such cheque to be specially marked by a banker as good for twenty-one days, and to be in favor of the Receiver-General’s Deposit Account only, and not to bearer or order. The lowest or any tender will not necessarily be accepted. ■ ■ By command. JOHN CARRUTHERS, Engineer-in-Chief. rt IT E B N S L A N D. '’extensive sale • OP CROWE LANDS ON THE MOUNT ABUNDANCE, BINDANGO, AND NOORINDOO STATIONS, MA RAN 0 A DISTRICT. 220,000 acres,' in proportions varying in area from 700 acres to 5000 acres. The Crown Lands above mentioned, and more particularly detailed in the Queensland Government Gazette of December 16 and following dates, will be OFFERED FOR SALE, by public competition, at BRISBANE, ON THE 29th DAY OF MARCH NEXT. This sale will be carried out under the authority of the Government, and in accordance with the provisions of the '' ' WESTERN RAILWAY ACT OF QUEENSLAND. The attention of persons wishing to acquire FREEHOLD PROPERTY OF THE FINEST QUALITY is particularly directed to this, the first of a series of sales which will be carried out under the provisions of a special Act of Parliament for the construction of a railway from Dalby, on the Darling Downs, to Roma, on the Fitzroy Downs. From the first exploration of the Maranoa country.by Sir Thomas Mitchell, in 1846, to the present time, the plain country of the Balonne, and the open Downs country round Mount Abundance, have been celebrated for their great fertility. The natural pasture has not suffered from the effects of shocking. The fattening grasses are as abundant as they ever were, and the herbage as rich. The portions now submitted for sale are offered, in the confident belief that nothing superior to them, for either pastoral or agricultural purposes, can fce found in Australia. THE WESTERN RAILWAY Is now under construction, and it is expected that it will be completed before the end of 1878. A PERMANENT AND CERTAIN MEANS OF ACCESS Will thus be secured to the country now offered, and in a few years’ time it is certain that a value considerably in advance of what is likely to be realised at the present time must I attach to properties such as these. _ ; . Intending purchasers are especially invited to inspect the country and judge for themselves. They will, on written application to the Inspecting Surveyor at Roma, or to the Minister for Lands at Brisbane, be furnished with a written authority to enter on the lands now offered for sale for the purpose of inspection. The lots, as surveyed, present most EXCEPTIONAL ADVANTAGES AS HOMESTEADS depots for persons engaged in pastoral purIts in the Western Districts of Queensland. No more valuable addition for pastoral purses could be made to the working of a squatg property on the Barcoo, the Thomson, or 3 Upper Warrego, than the possession of a v thousand acres of freehold property on the tzioy Downs. • ' ' The first lots which will be submitted for mpetition are situated on the well-known jorindoo country,,about 40 miles in a soutbsterly direction from Roma. They will be ered at uspet prices varying, as per Queensid Government Gazette detailed notice, FROM 20s. TO 30s. PER ACRE, passed auction, they will remain open to Oction at the upset price. ’HE WHOLE OF THESE LOTS ARE . GOOD. me of them could not be surpassed anywhere. ley are _■ • ABUNDANTLY WATERED ■ the Balonne River, Grimann Creek, and rilvie’s Creek. The country, consisting ’iefly of Downs and Plains, is broken up by in scrubs abounding with saltbush arid herbe of the best possible description. The next lots which will be offered are mated on the Mount Abundance, Eurella, id Bindage Stations, in the vicinity of Roma, ae upset price of these lots varies FROM 15s. TO 30s. PER ACRE, id the lots themselves run from 1500 to 100 acres. This country cannot now be better isoribed than it was by Sir Thomas Mitchell, lien he explored it in 1846. The entry in s journal olf the Bth day of May, 1846, as corded in his “ Tropical Australia,” runs thus : . “ The business of the day was most exciting. I was to ride over the fine open country to the westward of Mount .Abundance, and tlienco back for a higher branch of the river, or for a river, confident that so fine a region could be deficient in water, but more confident from what I had seen of the range to. which we had approached so near. Riding to the N.N.E., in about two hours we-came upon the identical river we had so long followed up. It was accompanied as usual by the Acacia pendula, had its rounded bergs, reedy waterholes, and an open strip aloqg the left bank. Crossing it, I rode over towards an elevated part of the open Downs, in hopes to obtain ‘ a sight of what the country was beyond ; but,l found that to be impossible, as it Seemed boundless. So, turning, I ascended an elevated north-easterly extremity ‘ of Mount AbundAND FROM IT BEHELD THE FINEST COUNTRY I HAD EVER SEEN IN A . PRIMEVAL STATE—a champaign region, spotted with wood, stretching os far as human vision, or even the telescope, could reach. It was intersected by river linos from the north, distinguishable by columns of smoke. A notable mountain rose in the midst of that fine country, &0., &c._ I determined to name the whole 'country Fitzroy Downs, and to identify, it I gave the name of the Grafton Range to the fine mass in the midst of it.” ■ ~ • !, A Sketch' Plan of the lots, and of the adjacent country, together with a Descriptive Catalogue indicating the, areas, the upset price, the nature of| the soil, the timber, and the water on each portion, may be obtained by forwarding 3s. to the Secretary for Public Lands, Queensland: Or can be seen at the office of this journal. Detailed Plans, on a scale of 40 to the inch, may be obtained by special application to the Department of Lands. The lots will be sold subject to the value of the improvements on them.’ These will be specified in the catalogue and stated at the time of sale. Terms—Twenty per cent, at sale ; the balance within one month from date of same.