H.—9

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the wire tramway, and has an iron bar bent round in the form of a somewhat oval link, being flat in the middle portion ; from this iron bar is suspended a small iron hopper, which travels on the bar by aid of a small pulley round the link, made so that it can shoot the quartz into the stationary buckets on the endless rope. This hopper is brought round on the iron bar until it gets under the shoot of the hopper where the quartz is emptied from the mine, and when filled is brought round to the other side of the link where the wire tramway is fixed, and as the bucket passes, this iron hopper fits in between the bow for holding the bucket; a trap-door is then raised and the quartz shot into the bucket, the hopper travelling with the bucket along the flat portion of the link, and thence round the end to the side where the quartz-hopper is placed, and filled the same as before. This tramway is capable of carrying about fifty tons of quartz to the battery in ten hours. There is an immense number of quartz reefs all over the district containing a little gold, but generally very poor, and, unless there is a large body of a lode, they do not pay for working. There is another peculiarity in all the reefs in this district, as well as those in every part of the colony, and that is, that the quartz lodes do not run continuous for any great distance : they cut out in some places in a wedge-shape, leaving only a small vein of quartz as a trace of the line of reef, and in other places they are cut straight off by a slide, leaving no trace whatever: hence they appear like isolated blocks of quartz here and there in certain belts of country. Sometimes these blocks are found running at right angles with the different strata, but generally in this district they follow the same line as the strata. The County Council, being subsidized by the Government, has constructed various roads and tracks all over the district to enable machinery to be brought to the mines, and to open up the country for prospecting. A dray-road has been constructed from Soldiers' Creek to Devil's Creek up to the Oriental Company's battery, for the purpose of getting machinery to the Globe and Oriental Companies' mines. A dray-road has also been constructed from the Inangahua Biver up Bainy Creek to the Inkermann reef, where the Inkermann Company are at present engaged in erecting a crushing battery of thirty heads of stamps, which will be driven by steam-power. This battery and steam machinery were constructed by J. Anderson, of Christchurch, who is now engaged in erecting it. A dray-road is likewise constructed from Black's Point up Murray Creek to the Inglewood and Phoenix Companies' mines : the former company have just completed the erection of a crushing battery and steam-engine, constructed by Messrs. McQueen and Co., Dunedin, and are now ready to commence crushing. This road enables all the mining companies in the vicinity to get machinery and mining timber on to their claims, and likewise coal for fuel. A dray-road is likewise constructed from the Westport Boad to the Inangahua Biver for the purpose of getting mining timber ; a dray-road is also been constructed from Caplestown up Boatman's Main Creek, for the purpose of getting machinery and mining timber to the Welcome, Just-in-Time, Imperial, Fiery Cross, and Eureka Companies' mines ; a dray-road has also been constructed up Little Boatman's Creek to enable machinery to be brought to the Specimen Hill Companies' mine and Boatman's Low-level Tunnel, where compressed-air machinery has recently been erected. The Specimen Hill Company has recently erected a crushing battery of fifteen heads of stamps, which is driven by an overshot water-wheel constructed by Messrs. McQueen and Co., of Dunedin, with iron buckets of a new pattern. A horse-track has likewise been constructed from Caplestown to join the track leading from the Westport Eoad to the Waitahu Eiver. A horse-track is also constructed from the road leading up Little Boatman's Creek to the Caledonian Company's mine at Larry's Creek: this track will give facilities to a number of miners working in alluvial claims and prospecting for quartz-reefs in this neighbourhood. [Mr. P. Q. Caples, of Beefton, who has spent many years in prospecting the mineral lodes of the colony, has kindly forwarded me information that he has found argentiferous galena, particles of stream tin, and zincblende in the mineral belts in this locality.] A horse-track is likewise constructed from Cariboo Creek to the Big Biver to enable the miners to get supplies to prospect this district. A horse-track is also constructed up the Big Biver, and the County Council is now constructing a track to join this track with the dray-road at the Oriental Company's battery, which, when completed, will open a line of communication between Eeeftpn and the Big Eiver, a distance of about twelve miles. Some good quartz reefs have lately been found in the Big Biver District: a company is working a mine in this neighbourhood and stacking the quartz until they have facilities for taking crushing machinery on to the ground. The whole of the country in the Inangahua District where quartz reefs are found is very broken and mountainous, and excepting near the bed or valley of the Inangahua Eiver, it is very diffiqult to open up; but the roads and tracks that have recently been constructed, and that are in course of construction, ought to do a great deal towards developing the quartz reefs throughout the district. Lyell.—The principal work in the quartz reefs in this district has been confined during the year to prospecting. The principal companies that have been at work are the United Alpine and United Italy. The former company have completed the construction of their tunnel at No. 6 level, and are now beginning to stope out the quartz. The United Italy Company have been driving in the reef, but their present crushing plant is almost useless to crush the quartz from their mine : they intend erecting better machinery as soon as the construction of the dray-road is completed from the Lyell Boad to their claim. About two miles of this road have lately been constructed by the Government, and the remaining portion of it, nearly two miles, is in course of construction. It is formed Bft. wide in the solid, and is metalled throughout, having no worse grades than one in fifteen, and, when completed, will be a serviceable road, and afford facilities to a number of mining companies in the vicinity of the Eight-Mile Creek to work their claims. Chaeleston. —The gold-workings in this neighbourhood are almost entirely confined to hydraulic sluicing. The gold is distributed in black sand leads, and in some places turns into beds of cement. There are several water-races on this field, the largest of which is the Argyle Bace, the property of the Government. The cost of this water-race up to the present time is £12,663 os. 2d. During the last year several deviations of this race have been constructed in order to avoid replacing high fluming in