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number of cattle and horses with them on the land. This settlement is situate on the Ohura Eoad, about twenty-two miles from Stratford, and is one of the most prosperous we have. In addition to the 232 acres felled and grassed in 1895-96, there was this season felled 142 acres, and the clearings made are well stocked. A large portion of the school reserve has been felled and grassed by the Education Department, and a school erected, which is well attended. 23J acres of Mangaere Township has been felled this season, and will shortly be surveyed into town allotments. The settlers as a rule now obtain sufficient employment (when they can be spared off their farms) on the various local works in the district, and require but little further aid from Government. Uruti (697 acres; six settlers). —382 acres felled and grassed to 31st March, 1896; 120 acres felled, and ready to be grassed. Seven houses have been erected, at a total value of £130, and five settlers resident, with their wives and families, there being fourteen children. About 100 chains of fencing has been erected, valued at £60, and ninety head of cattle and five horses are on the land. This settlement consists of seven sections, six of which are occupied. Settlers obtain a considerable amount of work from the local bodies and from other settlers in the district, and are not now entirely dependent upon Government work. Tongaporutu (2,500 acres; fifteen settlers). —372 acres felled and grassed to 31st March, 1896 ; 268 acres felled, and now ready to be grassed. Eleven houses have been erected, representing a total value of £305. Thirteen settlers are resident, with their wives and twenty-two children. About 80 chains of fencing has been erected, valued at £40, and a considerable number of cattle, horses, and sheep are on the land. This settlement consists of sixteen holdings. A great drawback to this, the Okau, Derwent, and Greenland Settlements is the difficulty of access, Tongaporutu Eiver being uncertain, and at times dangerous, for vessels to enter ; and no dray-road is yet open between Waitara and Tongaporutu or Mokau and Tongaporutu. Derwent (1,369 acres; eleven settlers). —197 acres felled and grassed to 31st March, 1896; 368 acres felled last year, and now ready to be grassed. Six houses and one whare.have been erected, valued at £170. Ten settlers are resident, with their wives and twelve children. 30 chains of fencing has been erected, valued at £15, and there are a few head of cattle, sheep, and horses on the land. This settlement consists of thirteen sections. Okau (1,889 acres 2 roods ; fifteen settlers). —298 acres felled and grassed up to 31st March, 1896; 302 acres felled in 1896, and now ready to be grassed. Twelve settlers have built houses, to a total value of £240, and eleven of them are resident. Of these, nine are single men, one married man is not resident, and there are six children on the settlement. This settlement is situate on Tongaporutu Biver, above Putiki. Three of the selectors will shortly build. So far no stock has been put on the land, as access has been by canoe only ; but the road is now being pushed on, and stock can soon be taken there. No fencing has been erected. Whangamomona (10,543 acres; ninety-one settlers). —948 acres felled and grassed to 31st March, 1896 ; 1,254 acres felled in 1896, and now ready to be grassed. Sixty-four houses have been built, valued at £1,370, and sixty-two settlers are resident; of these, thirty-seven are married men, with a total number of one hundred and fourteen children. About 300 chains of fencing has been erected, valued at £150. This is the largest improved-farm settlement in Taranaki. It commences at about"4of miles and ends at about 53 miles from Stratford, and fronts, for a length of YA\ miles, to Ohura Boad, besides which some of the settlers have access to their lands by Whangamomona, Mangare, and Prospect Boads. A large number—over 300 head—of stock is now running on the settlement, a fair proportion being cows. Sixty houses have been erected, and are occupied by the selectors and their families (where they are married men), and other houses will be erected when this season's felling is grassed. Some of the sections were found to be unsuitable for small settlement; these have been abandoned, and the vacant sections, where possible, will be grouped to make larger holdings, which can be dealt with under the optional system. Of the fifty-four miles of road mentioned from Stratford, thirty-nine are a good dray-road, the remainder being bridle-road. A strong working party are now pushing forward with the dray-road work, and before winter we hope it will extend to the south boundary of the settlement. Taumatatahi (430 acres ; four selectors). —66 acres felled and grassed up to 31st March, 1896 ; 20 acres felled, and ready to be grassed. Three settlers have built houses, to a total value of £95, and are resident, with their families, there being twelve children. One settler with three children will be required to build and reside on his section about June next. Fencing has been erected to the value of £24, and there are about forty-two head of cattle and five horses. This settlement is situate on Waitotara Boad, Kaipara Block. The settlers do not depend upon Government work, being able to obtain work from the larger landholders in the vicinity. Niho Niho (1,406 acres ; five selectors). —51 acres felled and grassed up to 31st March, 1896; 49 acres felled in 1896, and now ready to be grassed ; three settlers have built slab huts, to a total value of £30; five are resident, one being a married man with ten children, and he is quite a new settler. There is no fencing, although there are by now thirty head of cattle on the land, and three horses. This settlement is situate on the Stratford-Ongaruhe Eoad route, about 130 miles from Stratford and forty miles from the railway terminus at Poro-o-te-rau Tunnel. This settlement has not been so successful as others, principally in consequence of its being in Native country, and far distant from any European settlement. The land, however, is good, and when Eatatomokia Block is sold this settlement will no doubt make good progress. In connection with the settlement and the Eatatomokia Block generally, nine miles and a half of roads has been felled, stumped, and formed as bridle-road, including 1,058 lineal feet of culverts. To assist settlement a bridge will be required over the Ohura Stream, plans for which are prepared, and the timber (11,850 superficial feet) sawn. Greenlands (603 acres ; six selectors). —This settlement was allotted on the 27th May, 1896, to six settlers from Woodville, and is situate about six miles inland from Putiki, on the road-line which will eventually run through from the coast at the Tongaporutu Biver to the Ohura Eoad,