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Sess. 11.—1897. NEW ZEALAND.

ROAD FROM TEKAPO TO MOUNT COOK (RECONNAISSANCE SURVEY OF A).

Return to an Order of the House of Bepresentatives dated Wednesday, the 13th day of October, 1897. Ordered, " That there be laid before this House any report or reports in possession of the Government relating to the reconnaissance survey recently made of the route of an alleged shorter and better road from Tekapo to Mount Cook."—(Hon. Major Steward.)

Mr. T. N. Beodebick, District Surveyor, to the Chief Subveyob, Christchurch. Sib,— Timaru, 27th January, 1897. Ec Roads to Hermitage. —Acting on the instructions contained in your letter of the 21st ultimo, I visited the Mackenzie country and thoroughly explored it for new routes to the Hermitage, and have now the honour to submit for your consideration four schemes for shortening and improving the road. It will perhaps be more convenient to give the total lengths of the rival routes here, and afterwards describe them in detail. The present road via Pukaki is 96 miles long—viz., Fairlie to Tekapo, 26 miles; Tekapo to Pukaki, 30 miles; Pukaki to Hermitage, 40 miles. A. By Mackenzie County Council's proposed route via the Clay Cliffs and Burnett's, 59 miles. By old Braemar Eoad to Burnett's, thence by new route same as above, 63 miles. B. By Lake Pukaki route, with steam-launch, 77 miles. By bridges across island from Braemar to Jack's Creek, 65 miles. It is not possible to shorten the first route via Pukaki by more than 2 miles, but the road can be made into an excellent one by the expenditure of sufficient money. From Pukaki Bridge to Birch Hill, by following the lake as shown on the accompanying plan (C), by making slight deviations here and there, and by forming where it is required, this might be done for about £2,500. From there to the Hermitage the road should always have a surfaceman on it, for no formation would ever stand. This part, however, is by no means a bad road. Following the lake round would make it a more interesting drive for the tourists than it is at present, and the long and toilsome pull uphill for miles, only to zigzag steeply and awkwardly down to the lake again, would be avoided. The time saved by the new route along the lake cannot be estimated by the difference in the lengths of the two roads. Cost of the new piece would be about £1,400. Eoute A, vid the Clay Cliff's, as proposed by the Mackenzie County Council: From Tekapo to Trig. L is roughly formed, but a good enough road in summer, equal to the one now in use between Tekapo and Pukaki, with an excellent ford over the Fork Stream. From Lto Z very good gradu-ally-ascending grades can be got, and a good ford over the Landslip Creek, but from these to the Jollie Eiver, a distance of about 3 miles, the grade could not be made easier than 1 in 13 without a zigzag. The Jollie would have to be bridged at the Gorge with a one-span bridge from rock to rock of 86ft., and a deep cutting made to get at it from the south side. From there to Black Point (4J miles) it is flat formation on a shingly soil, with the exception of 61 chains of side catting, half of which is very heavy. At this point the real difficulties commence, which are, in my opinion, so great as to condemn the route at present, because of its great cost; for from this point to the site of the proposed bridge across the Tasman (2 miles) the river often runs right into the foot of the hills, and the only way to make it quite certain that traffic would not be interrupted is either to cut it along the hillside, which has an average slope of 40°, and for one-third of the distance is solid rock, and the remainder a loose mixture of rock and clay, which would most certainly slip when cut into, or to build it up with rubble along the base of the hills. Indeed, I am of opinion that the latter is the only plan which could be adopted, and then it is .probable that part of it would be destroyed from time to time by the river. Then comes the Tasman Bridge of 35 chains in length, the cost of which would, of course, depend on the kind of structure required, which would in any case have to be very strong; and from there to the road (about a mile) is a high gravel bank of old formation cut through here and there by channels from the Hooker overflow and the creeks, which might stand for ages, but on the other hand might be washed away by the next flood. The road, with the bridge over the Jollie, could at a rough estimate be made for from £4,000 to £4,500, but the bridge would be a costly addition, for the piles would have to be driven- very deep.