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done consists in the resurvey of parts of old townships preparatory to their being offered for sale, the re-marking being necessary on account of the loss or destruction of the former pegs. Native Land Court Surveys. —The small area of 5,468 acres has been surveyed by the staff surveyors, whilst 157 blocks or divisions of blocks, containing 145,583 acres, have been surveyed by authorised surveyors under the direction of the department, the cost of survey being borne by the Maori owners. A large proportion of this area is the subdivision of blocks which had previously passed the Court, and came in for subdivision and individualisation during the year. The operation of the Native land laws in force, together with the general depression, has almost entirely put a stop to the preparation of fresh blocks for Native Land Court purposes. Native Land Purchase Surveys. —The return for this year is nil, as far as surveys made by the departmental officers are concerned; but an area of 416,235 acres has been surveyed by authorized surveyors, at the cost of the Land Purchase Department. Boads, Bailways, do. —Nearly the whole of the 162 miles surveyed during the year has been done in exercise of the road rights, and most of it lies in the Poverty Bay District, and has been executed by Messrs. Pickett and Armstrong in a difficult country. Other Work. —Under this heading appears sundry work performed by the officers of the department, such as inspection, office-work, reports on land and roads, redefining certain boundaries, and services rendered to other departments which do not find a place under the other headings. Standard Survey of Towns. —Mr. Williams was engaged for a short time during the year in extending the series of stone standards or fixed points in the suburbs of Auckland, which work was subsequently taken up by Mr. Weetman in connection with the street-alignment survey of Auckland, in which fair progress has been made. This latter is a most tedious process, involving the search into a large number of grants and conveyances, preparatory to the field-work. Each block surrounded by streets is then dealt with separately, and as it affects the adjacent ones ; and, after a careful survey of the occupations, a street line is determined for each block, within which the future Land Transfer surveys are to be confined. The portion already completed has proved of very great assistance, and the benefit of it will become more and more apparent both to the licensed surveyors and to the department, and consequently to the public, as time goes on. The recent removal of Mr. Weetman to take charge of the Poverty Bay District will, I fear, put a stop to the work for some time to come. Land Transfer Surveys. —Mr. Foster reports having passed 206 plans, containing 112,005 acres, divided into 1,358 allotments ; and Mr. Buscke, at Gisborne, has passed 22 plans, with an area of 7,094 acres, in 124 allotments. We have on hand, passing through the office, and referred back to the surveyors for further information, 51 plans—a number much larger than it ought to be; but with the insufficient number of draughtsmen at present employed in this work it is unavoidable. Field Inspection. —All of Mr. Williams's time, excepting* the short period engaged on village sections and standard survey, was devoted to inspection of the field surveys, many of the staff surveyors having been visited by him. He reports that the work is generally very good. Cases, however, have occurred which show the great necessity for a constant field check. Mr. Williams having now left this branch of the department, such inspection as is necessary will devolve on myself and the District Surveyors; and I fear that, in consequence of the amount of this work to be done, the inspection is likely to suffer. Mr. Barnard has also been constantly in the field inspecting the surveys in his district, and has managed to test fifty-six different surveys, most of them showing that some amendment was necessary, though the work on the whole is good. Office-ioork. —A considerable part of the year's work has been devoted to office matters in connection with the village-settlement scheme, and, as two of the office staff were transferred to the field for a considerable portion of the year without any substitutes being provided, it naturally results in our having very large arrears of work on hand at the present time. At no prior period during the past ten years has there been such an accumulation of work, principally consisting of original maps of lands for disposal, which remain unchecked and unrecorded, and, as a consequence, the lands cannot be offered for sale or selection. The number of block sheets prepared to date, mostly on the 10-chain scale, is 1,826, an increase of 283 for the year for the two offices. A good number of secondary record maps have been prepared during the year, the Gisborne office being well up to date in this branch. lam again under the necessity of calling attention to the inadequacy of the safe-accommodation in Auckland. The fireproof safe is crowded with valuable maps and plans to such a degree that many are constantly damaged in handling through want of proper space to contain them; whilst the letter records are entirely unprotected from fire. In the Crowngrant branch there are no arrears of certificate of title whatever, although a good many requisitions for Crown grants are unavoidably held over pending the survey of the lands. The certificates to carry out orders of the Native Land Court are likewise greatly in arrear; but, as all of these depend on surveys for which there is no money available, they are likely to remain as arrears. Mr. Kensington has had lithographed this last year six of the counties on the 80-chain scale, and these maps have proved most useful, and will continue to be so, until they can be replaced by the photolithographs of the survey districts, none of which have been published during the year. Thirty-six plans of blocks and sale-plans have been lithographed locally, 6,750 copies having been struck off. Sheet No. 5, on the four-mile scale, which embraces the remainder of the province not already prepared on that scale, will probably be furnished during the ensuing year. The correspondence shows no sign of decreasing; indeed, in consequence of the greater number of field parties and roadworks going on, it has increased a good deal. Mr. Johnston, the Accountant, has passed 1,725 vouchers, which includes expenditure for surveys, roads, homestead surveys, Land Purchase Department, and State Forest, and covers an expenditure totalling £46,012 2s. 2d. Work for the Ensuing Season. —The surveyors have on hand a considerable amount of work, some of it complete in the field, but the plans of which not being ready, the results will only appear in .next year's report. In addition to this there is a large amount of work in scattered districta