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As to the workings and prospects iu this district, I have to report that at Orepuki the population has not varied for several years. The miners are nearly all married, and attached to the locality having been settled there for the last twelve years. Since the land has been opened up under deferred payments, many of the miners are combining mining with agricultural pursuits, which they are well able to do owing to the temporary suspension of the water during the summer season. Consequent on the discovery of fine seams of coal in the vicinity of Orepuki, five coal leases have been applied for. Three of these were granted some months ago, and have since, as lam informed, been amalgamated under one proprietary The other two have not been objected to, and will no doubt be granted in due course. When the railway from Riverton to Orepuki, now in course of construction, is completed, the working of those coal fields will add greatly to the population, and become the chief resource of the district. At the Round Hill, which is about nine miles from Riverton, there are at present about 40 Europeans and 270 Chinese; and, judging from the quantity of gold sold at the banks, I have no doubt that the latter are making very good wages on these workings, having heard on good authority that the Bank of New Zealand bought 1,400 oz. of gold in the month of January from Chinese working at the Round Hill. This field would support a very much larger population, were it not that the want of water and fall have always prevented its being in much favour with Europeans. These difficulties, however, are now likely to be obviated by the formation of a company to undertake the forming and working of a sludge-channel, from Wakatipu Beach to the Round Hill, at a cost of from £3,000 to £4,000, which will increase the area of auriferous ground available for working by some six square miles. Of the Longwood diggings, which are on the eastern side of the range, I am sorry to say that the anticipations of last year have not as yet been fulfilled. The Longwood Reefing Company, and the Geelong, after a considerable expenditure in machinery and wages, have suspended operations; and, although the impression still prevails that payable reefs are to be found in these and the neighbouring claims, it is not likely—at any rate until the present depression has passed away—that the companies will make any further outlay in the attempt to develop them. Further to the east, in the neighbourhood of Specimen Gully, good samples of stone have been got from the Arethusa and Pioneer; the latter, from a sample of 19 cwt. of stone sent to the School of Mines at Ballarat, having obtained a return of 19 dwt. to the ton. On the completion of the bridge now making across the Purapurakino, parcels of stone will be forwarded from these claims for testing at the battery recently erected in Riverton. I have, &c, Hy McCulloch, The Under-Secretary for Gold Fields, Wellington. Warden,

WATER-RACES. No. 18. Mr. H. A. Gordon, Manager of the Nelson Creek Water-Race, to the Undee-Seceetaey for Gold Fields. Sir,— Public Works Office, Greymouth, 9th April, 1881. I have the honor to submit annual report showing transactions connected with the working of the Nelson Creek Water-race, for the year ending the 31st March, 1881. The amount received from sales of water during the year is £2,070 Is. Id., and the expenditure on maintenance during the same period £1,496 6s. 3d., thus leaving a balance of £573 14s. lOd. of profit on the working of the race. The approximate amount of gold obtained by those who were using water from the race has been 3,959 oz., which represents the value of £15,044 45.; and the average number of men employed during the year has been sixty-eight. Taking the amount received from sales of water from the value of the gold obtained, it leaves the average weekly earnings per man to be £3 13s. 4d. A considerable amount of prospecting has been carried on during the year in ground commanded by the race, and free water has been given for that purpose and for opening up new mining claims, to the value of £352 6s. 3d., but no fresh ground has yet been discovered to prove remunerative for working. The only known aurifererous ground of any extent that has proved to be payable is in the vicinity of Try Again Terrace, and German Gully This ground will last for a few years ; but if nothing further be discovered, the only way of ultimately utilizing the water will be to extend the race to the Callaghan's Creek side of the range. This would involve an expenditure of several thousands of pounds ; but, as there has never been a survey made, I have not sufficient data to form a correct estimate of cost, nor the extent of auriferous ground that the water would command. The works included in maintenance during the year have consisted in replacing about 1,200 sets of tunnel timber, repairing and strengthening some of the first bridges that were constructed, general repairs to race, and turning off and on water to the mining claims who are working with same, I have, &c, Heney A. Gordon, The Under-Secretary for Gold Fields, Wellington. Manager.

No. 19. Mr. J Gow, Manager of the Waimea-Kumara Water-Race, to the Undee-Seceetaey for Gold Fields. Sib, — Manager's Office, .Kumara, 18th April, 1881. I have the honor to forward my annual report upon the working and maintenance of the Waimea-Kumara Races for the financial year ending 31st March, 1881.