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involves a large amount of searching, hence the delay in completion; the Town of Te Aroha (Auckland) ; additions to sheet 5, Auckland ; map of Nelson Land District (completed) : County of Pahiatua (nearly completed ; when this county is finished the whole of the North island can be obtained on a scale of one mile to an inch, every county being then published). All the plans in connection with the annual report, such as nurseries, base-lines, tidal results, &c, were also drawn. Twenty-nine schedules for the Local Bills Committee of the House of Representatives were examined and certified to. Maps of the following counties were published during the year: Manukau, Hobson, Piako (sheet 1), Thames, Opotiki (sheet 3) ; also the survey districts, on a scale of a mile to an inch, of Hope, Kakanui, Omona, Leeston, Halswell, Pigeon Bay, Highlay. Totoro, Reefton, Maruia. Tutaki, Hunua, Owatua, Nenthorn, and Wangapeka. The following towns : Timaru Borough (drawn in Christchurch office), Waikaka, East Winton, T'uatapere, Onehunga. Taupo, Whangarei. Cromwell. Ngaruawahia, and Glenorchy, also City of Nelson. Land-tenure maps of the following counties were prepared for the Auckland, Hamilton, and Head Offices: Kaitieke, Waitemata, Hutt, Mangoniii. Wainiarino. Manukau, Piako, Matamata, Oroua, and Hobson. Thirty registration districts (births, deaths, and marriages) were prepared for the RegistrarGeneral on various scales. During the year 175 towns (Government and private) were examined, reported on. and, when satisfactory and complying with the Act and regulations, recommended for the approval of His Excellency the Governor under section 16 of the Land Act, 1908. The distribution of these towns in land districts was as follows: Auckland. 86 , Taranaki, 1 , Hawke's Bay, 28: Wellington, 8: Nelson, 1 ; Marlborough, I ; Westland, 1 ; Canterbury, 27 : Otago. 8; Southland. 14. Among other duties performed by the draughtsmen there were 126 descriptions made; measuring-bands tested —two 10-chain, two 5-chain. one I-chain: six licenses and six certificates of competency under the .Surveyors' Institute and Board of Examiners Act. 1908, for September, 1911, and eight licenses and eight certificates under the same Act for March, 1912, were issued in duplicate, and twelve licenses, also in duplicate, were issued to surveyors under the Land Transfer Act, 1908. Twenty-three plans were drawn on deeds; 309 tracings made: 704 maps mounted. The last mentioned work occupies nearly the whole time of one officer, as it is found more advantageous and expeditious for this work to be done in the Head Office than forwarding to the Government Printer. I have to thank all the officers for their co-operation and assistance given me during the year. Mr. C. E. Adams, Chief Computer, reports as follows on the work of the year : — Triangulation. —As will be seen from the appendix on Triangulation. further observations were carried out by Mr. H. E. Girdlestone, Assistant Surveyor, and the observations between the Wairarapa and Elthain bases are now nearly completed. The calculation of the triangulation has been put actively in hand, and the results of the Wairarapa base-net are given in the appendix, as well as a recalculation of the auxiliary triangle on this base-line. Tidal Survey. —The Auckland tidal records have been harmonically analysed for the year beginning Ist December, 1908, and the Auckland tides have been predicted for the years 1912 and 1913, and the Wellington tides have been predicted for 1913. The tide-tables for these two ports have been published in the -British Admiralty Tide Tables" and in the "New Zealand Nautical Almanac." In the " New Zealand Nautical Almanac " an extensive table is given showing the tidal differences of many other ports, based on the predictions for Wellington and Auckland. It is satisfactory to note that, as in 'the case of the Wellington predictions, the Auckland predictions agree very closely with actuality. An illustration showing a portion of this test is given in the appendix. Messrs. T. G. Gillespie, J. J. Hay. and E. -I. Williams have assisted in the calculations of the Tidal Survey and of the Triangulation in a satisfactory manner. An example of a new method of analysing tidal observations is given, and. so far as tests have been carried out, it appears to otter some advantages over the other methods now in use. A new tide-gauge has been constructed, a brief description of which will be found in Appendix V. The excellent illustrations accompanying the description are the work of Mr. Harold Armstrong, of the Wellington District Office Staff. Lands and Survey Department.