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the environs of the City of Wellington and suburban lands. It also provides for the connection of the triangulation of the district from the new Tauherenikau base direct to the district zero and meridian ; incidentally, also, a mysterious set of differences in the old work, amounting in the aggregate to many links, has been cleared up. In this connection I might urge the importance of verifying the points marked upon the meridian of Mount Cook, of the accuracy of the present, positions of which, within certain limits, there is now grave, doubt. The triangulation now effected enables the accurate comparison of the meridians of Opaki South and Mount Cook, and it is found that the difference is less than :>. second of arc, subjeci to possible corrections. Standard Survey. —These are now under the control of the Surveyor-General, and Mr. Mountfort has been detached from my staff to undertake an extension of the Wanganui work ; while surveys of this kind in Karori Borough are also in contemplation. Topographical Survey jor Selection. —ln this class the principal area is in the South Waimarino, where at first five, and latterly two, surveyors, with several assistants and cadets, have been at work ; an area of 23,419 acres was made ready for selection, but awaits being placed on the market until the final surveys have been completed. Another area of 2,000 acres towards the head of the Pohangina River is in hand. Rural. —The completion and final survey of last year's topographical surveys in South Waimarino is the principal item in this class, with a little scenery-preservation survey-work. Town Section Survey. —This comprises a township in the Hutt Valley, and extension of existing townships on the Main Trunk line. Native Land Court Survey. —As the Government has undertaken the prime cost of this work in order to facilitate the settlement of Native lands, several private surveyors have been authorized to undertake blocks for which the Judges have requisitioned surveys, and these appear in table 45. Two staff surveyors also have the same class of work in hand, and the total area of 39,736 acres therefore represents land which is coming into reproductive use. Roads, &c. —There are no further railway surveys this year, and the length of roads, independently of those laid out in the course of subdivision, is very small, but a considerable length—some 25 miles—has been graded by a staff surveyor for private survey contract. Other Work.- —This heading includes the usual miscellaneous collection of small scattered surveys of oemetery, school, observatory, and other sites, boundary-pegging, reports, schemes, diagrams, inspections, et hoc genus omne, and there is yet a long string of similar surveys awaiting their turn. Proposed Operations, 1911-12. —The settlement work for the coming year will be chiefly in the South Waimarino Block, where an area of 60,000 acres is in hand. There will be a considerable number of Native Land Court surveys, which will be principally done by licensed private surveyors. A fair amount of road, township, village, and small-settlement surveys will also be undertaken in various localities, and in addition to this there is a great accumulation of miscellaneous work all over the district. and I hope to put one or two surveyors on to this duty before starting their next season's permanent work. Office-work. —The staff throughout the year has remained at a minimum strength, and it has been impossible to do more than cope with absolute daily necessities, and this at times with considerable difficulty. There are, however, so many grave problems involved in the condition of the permanent records and ii-replaceable originals that the provision of two more draughtsmen and the training of two more field cadets will, I trust, enable a serious endeavour to be made to grapple with them in the coming year. There is much, too, that could be done in the multiplication of publications to diminish the difficulty of meeting the public demand for information and maps. Examination of Plans. —-The number of new plans received under all heads was 274, and 296 were approved, being 177 in the general computing branch, and 119 in the statutory plan branch. These two branches have a total of 70 plans on hand. The new plans in the general branch covered 64,556 acres Crown sectional, 67,973 acres Native surveys, 279 acres town surveys, and 216 acres Maori Land Board Surveys. In the statutory plan branch 101 plans passed through all stages, and a further 111 had been completed and sent away for proclamation. There is a class of plan in this branch of work which absorbs an altogether disproportionate and inordinate amount of time and effort— i.e., plans of road-deviation entailing constant intersection of two roads. The cost of preparation and check of such plans merely for the eventual correction of title is so seriously out of proportion to the result as to be worth legislative action to curtail it. Land Transfer Branch. -In this branch 259 plans were received and 221 approved, while 68 applications, 2,083 transfers, 185 leases, 255 mortgage's, 111 Orders in Council, 79 Proclamations, 381 balance certificates, 9 caveats, and 108 other dealings were put through by the staff, and 5,173 plans were put on certificates of title. Native Land Court Work. —The work in this branch is on the increase, due to the effect of the new Act tending to release Native land and render it available for settlement and use. Orders for 375 subdivisions, covering an area of 119,295 acres, were made out, while fresh surveys of 41,000 acits in 264 subdivisions were received, and surveys of a further 37,634 acres are actually in progress. Crown liens to an amount of £2,132 Bs. were collected, and an area of 2,325 acres became Crown land in satisfaction of liens. A number of orders of all kinds, certificates, authorities, nominations, &c, were dealt with in the ordinary routine. General Draughting Work.- The staff on this work had been kept very busy during the year. having been short-handed, and it luis been impossible to do much permanent record or compilation work. The supply of data Eor surveys, tracings of completed transactions for departmental and extradepartmental record, for selectors and others, and duplicates of some classes of plan have formed the bulk of the work, but some 16 block tracings of old ami perishing records have been made, while 12