C—3b.

good solid ground from the west face of the terrace to the seam, which, though nearly vertical, has a slight underlay to the eastward. The coal is being followed to the north, along the foot-wall, and was at first 12 ft. wide, but after a while it flaked off on the hanging-wall side a thickness of nearly 3 ft. to a clay parting, since when the bord has been carried on 15 ft. wide, with about the same height. I understand there is a limit to the distance that may be driven north to reach another man's land-boundary, and, in the meantime, it is the intention of the Irvines to drive a tunnel to the east about 1J chains, in order to cut another seam of coal that is known to exist at that distance from the one they are now working, and running parallel with it. Harvey's Pit, Chatton. —(2l/10/96) : I found the pit flooded, and no work of any kind being done. The coal-seam (vertical) is exposed in the face of the hill, and is being followed southward, in which direction the outcrop appears to rise with the hill. This, of course, keeps the stripping as shallow as could be desired. The height of seam in the open face is now about loft., and will be much greater as the work proceeds. Pacey's Pit, Chatton. —(2l/10/96): I did not find any one about the pit, which was fuli of water, caused no doubt by the late heavy rains. It does not appear that any great amount of work has been done since my last visit. The stripping is getting deeper, but is kept in advance of the coal-face. McGill's Pit, Waikaka. —(22/10/96) : At this opencast the stripping is still very shallow (4 ft.), and the coal-seam is 16 ft. The late heavy rains flooded the pit, but at the time of my visit the little water-wheel had nearly all the water pumped out. The pump is of wood, 4 in. by 4 in., having about a 20 in. stroke. McDonald's Pit, Waikaka. —(22/10/96): The opencast is now about 1 chain long, having about 10 ft. of coal and about the same height of stripping, which is rapidly getting heavier into the hill, in which direction the coal dips considerably. The present drain is not deep enough to take away the water beyond the present working-face. Evans's Pit, Wendon. —(22/10/96) : The stripping appears to be getting gradually deeper as the work advances into the hill, and is still very hard. I understand the bulk of it is broken up with powder to save pick-labour. Most of the stripping has to be barrowed or carted away to one side, which in either case means a considerable amount of labour, at, I fear, very poor pay. Black's Pit, Greenville. —(22/10/96) : This is the pit one Morgan worked for a short time two years ago. Very little has since been done at it, but it is again to be cleaned out at an early date. Vial's Mine, Waikaia. —(3l/10/96): I did not find any one at the pit. No stripping for coal has been done since my previous visit. At that time a drain was being cut up to the coal-face from the river, a distance of several chains, since the completion of which the coal has been mined out. I find a main heading to the eastward, and two short drives from same to the south. In each of the bords from 8 ft. to 9 ft. of coal has been hewn, leaving about 4 ft. of coal overhead for a roof. In consequence of the drain to the mine having been partly filled in at the time of my visit, and the water backed into the workings, I did not get in so far as the face of the main heading. P. Hill's Pit, Waikaia. —(3l/10/96): There is from 30 ft. to 40 ft. of gravel, resting on the coal, sluiced off for the gold it contains, and a few feet of coal is then hewn out to a convenient depth. There does not appear to be much doing in the coal trade at this pit, and Ido not think it would be worked for the coal if there was not gold in the stripping. Northcote's Pit, Waikaia. —(3l/10/96) : This pit appears to be merged into Hill's ; they are worked as one. The mouth of the old mine is buried in landslips and debris from Hill's sluicing operations. I did not find any one at the pit. Mclvor's Pit, Waikaia.- -This is closed as a coal-pit, and is now being mined for the gold found in the gravel resting on the coal. Cosgrove's Pit, Waikaia. —(2/11/96) : There is no work going on at the pit at present. Stripping is still being done by water, and the working-face is in a safe condition. John Smith's Pit, Kingston Crossing. —(3o/10/96) : The open face of coal is now 3 chains long, with a floor nearly level. The stripping will probably average 14 ft., all of which is getting harder as the work advances into the terrace. The surface is ploughed to a certain depth and scooped off by three horses. The coal-seam is, on an average, from 8 ft. to 9 ft. thick, rising slightly into the terrace. In places the surface of the coal shows how very much it has been scoured away, and into deep trenches, by the action of the gravel and water at some remote period of time. There is a covered drain at a level below the level of the floor of the seam that keeps the pit in good order underfoot. The intention is to mine the coal out at an early date, as it is thought it will be less costly than stripping ahead of the present face. Sleevian's Pit, Mataura. —- (28/10/96): The stripping on the north side of the pit is 14 ft., which is much less than it was on the south side. The gravel is also much cleaner, and therefore easier shifted. The coal is from 17 ft. to 18 ft. thick, dipping to the north and the west. The drainage into the pit is gradually getting very heavy. The little water-wheel is working two 6 in. and two 8 m. pumps, which lift 9,000 gallons per hour, and the portable engine is driving a centrifugal pump which lifts 12,000 gallons per hour. This pumping is kept going night and day; the only stoppage is to allow of the renewal of the leather on the pump-buckets. Sleeman says he cannot continue working this pit much longer, and in order to keep his trade he has lately purchased 200 acres of land a little lower down the river where the same seam of coal is known to exist, and in order to avoid heavy pumping at the proposed new pit he has let a contract to drive a tunnel from the Mataura Eiver, near its ordinary water-level, to the spot intended to be opened, a distance of 1,000 ft., where it will, with a rise of lin. to the chain, just touch the floor of the coal-seam. The tunnel, which will be in easy cutting, is expected to be completed within six months, soon after which the present pit will be abandoned. Beattie and Coster's Pit, Mataura. —(27/10/96): The stripping is still fine gravel, and averages about 12 ft., and the working-face is advancing to the north-east. The coal is 16 ft. thick on the west side and 10 ft. on the east side, towards the Mataura Eiver, in which direction it thins out. The coal-floor dips slightly to the north and from the river. It is an interesting fact to know

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