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Mr. Sievwright: Miserable rag ! 175. The Chairman.] Did these gentlemen make these statements ?—I simply say the paper lies all round as to harbour matters. 176. You are reported to have said, " The only thing was that if the Board was stuck up for money before getting into 14ft. they must urge the Government to assist them"?—l do not think I ever made such a statement. I always emphatically said from the first, however, that we ought to go to the Government for assistance. 177. Mr. Tanner.] What did you mean by that?—l meant this: that, considering how little public money had been spent in the district, I thought the district had a very fair claim for special consideration from Parliament. 178. The Chairman.] In another portion of this report Mr. Matthewson is reported to have addressed you thus :" Do you contend that, after all our trouble, expense, and struggling, w 7e must be content with 14ft. of water ? Even if we get that it will never be safe, except in calm weather"?— Do not give any weight to what appears in that paper. I say deliberately that that paper misreports what is said. I say it systematically misrepresents what takes place. 179. Has it been contradicted?—Well, it is looked upon as not worth contradiction. 180. A member of the Board further states, "It is agreed on all sides that we are not able to bear the heavy rate, much less a heavier one ; and the only thing is to hang the work up at once'' ? —■ I think the Secretary will show you from the statement I asked him to prepare that that is not the true position. 181. Mr. B. Thompson.] Supposing the works were stopped at the present point, would a small steamer be able to go alongside, and load and discharge cargo ?—Certainly not. The works just now are nearly alongside the bar, and are right into broken water. We have got to cross the broken water; and unless we do that and get into deeper water, the works will be absolutely of no use. 182. Mr. Tanner.] Is it not a fact that no vessel could lie alongside the pier and discharge and take in cargo only in perfectly calm weather ?—I do not think so; but any person acquainted with nautical matters can perfectly see that if this breakwater was put out there must be a wash of the sea round the point, and so cause a rising and falling of the steamer moored to the pier. If the swell was heavy she would, of course, have to loosen moorings and clear off altogether. The only wind which causes a heavy swell is the south-east wind. Only an enclosed harbour could avoid that. Mr. Boss : The Engineer has said he considered there would be 250 days in the year on which vessels could discharge and take in cargo alongside the pier. Mr. Haeby Paslet Higginson, M.lnst.C.E., examined. Mr. Higginson : I am a civil engineer resident in Wellington. I made a report, at the request of the Government, on the Gisborne Harbour works. 183. The Chairman.] The Committee would like to hear from you, Mr. Higginson, a kind of epitomised statement with regard to the present position of the works, and your opinion as to the propriety of the House authorising a further expenditure of £40,000 to carry out the work to the 1,160ft. line ? —When I made my report I made no recommendation whatever; I simply reported the facts as I found them. My opinion is that it would certainly be a great pity to stop the w Torks at present, because no advantage whatever is gained from the money that has been spent. If the work is not continued, the £60,000 or £70,000 already spent will have been simply thrown into the sea, because the work has only arrived at such a point that it is of no advantage for improving the bar, and of no use for shipping. 184. Mr. Tanner.] Do you think an adequate advantage would be gained by expending the £40,000 ? —Yes; they will have 13ft. or 14ft. at the end on the sand, and that depth may be increased by the scour along the wall. 185. The Chairman.] Do you think the scour will have any effect at the extreme end of the wall ? —No, I do not think it will. 186. The effects of the tidal current will decrease as you get further out ? —Yes. 187. You think it may be felt as far as 1,160ft. ? —I think it will. 188. Mr. Tanner.] What would be the rise and fall of the wave alongside the breakwater ?— All the ship authorities agree that there should be from 3ft. to 4ft. under a vessel's keel. 189. Does the rise and fall of the tide regulate the wave-motion ?—No ; that simply depends on the size of the rollers. In deep water it is likely to be more than in shallow : 4ft. or sft. is a very large swell, and is equal to Bft. or 10ft. measured from trough to crest of wave. It takes a very heavy sea to cause that. I think that oft. would be the limit there. 190. If anything like sft. it would not be safe for a vessel drawing more than 9ft. of water to be there ?—No. The vessel's berth would be under the lee of the work, I may say, and the rise and fall of the wave would not be so much as it would be outside. 191. Mr. Boss.] The waves and south-east wind strike the breakwater diagonally ?—Yes. 192. Mr. Tanner.] The wave would go round the corner at the end of the pier ?—Yes, to a certain extent. 193. The seas there are not so heavy as in Hawke's Bay ? —I should not think so. 194. Mr. Whyte.] Do you think there is any reasonable probability of the sand shoaling up along the line of wall ?—I do not think so. My opinion is there is very little sand deposited there. 195. Mr. Tanner.] Did you ascertain in what direction the sand was drifting?—l am under the impression the sand travels westwards along the beach. 196. I should say very little sand travelled towards the east side of the breakwater ?—This beach all the way along to the island is papa rock, and there is very little sand there. Mr. Allen produced plan showing varyings in soundings since 1885, and Mr. Higginson was questioned as to a " hump " which had arisen off the end of the pier. He gave it as his opinion that