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however, purchased the greater part of the bush in order that this well-known scenic attraction might be preserved for all time. On the Mangakahia River an additional area of 15 acres was acquired, and will help to further safeguard the beautiful scenery of this locality. In the Auckland District two areas of bush close to the Tarawera Chasm, near Waimangu, were formally proclaimed, and a small area of 19 acres, facing the Tauranga Harbour at Katikati, was also set aside for the preservation of scenery. The latter is a steep face covered with scattered pohutukawa-trees, and fronts a sandy beach on the foreshore. In the Hawke's Bay District an area of beautiful native bush alongside the main Motu-Opotiki Road was secured for scenic reservation. It had formerly been reserved for educational purposes, but by means of exchange for Crown land was acquired under the Scenery Preservation Act, whilst an area of 90 acres of native bush in the Elsthorpe Settlement, between Patangata and the sea, which had been reserved from sale when the settlement was acquired some twenty-five years ago, was formally proclaimed under the Scenery Preservation Act. In the Taranaki District extensive areas of native bush along the Tangarakau Gorge were secured and set aside under the Act. Parts of the area had been Crown land, while other parts had been set aside as State forests. A mutual arrangement was, however, made with the State Forest Service, and those lands which it is deemed advisable to keep permanently reserved for scenic purposes were duly secured and gazetted. In the Marlborough District four areas of native bush were proclaimed under the Scenery Preservation Act, and help to protect the scenery in the Marlborough Sounds. Two of them are situated in Nydia Bay, in the Pelorus Sound, and another at Fairy Bay, the latter completing a scenic reservation along the shores of Stag Cove and Fairy Bay. The remaining area is situated in the Hundalee district, alongside the road from Blenheim to Kaikoura, and travellers thereon will appreciate the fact that the scenic attractions of the coast have been preserved by the Government. The remaining reserve was in the Southland District, where an area of 60,000 acres was taken from the Sounds National Park and brought under the provisions of the Scenery Preservation Act. It lies to the west of the Monowai Lake and the Monowai River, and includes mountainous and rugged country surrounding the lake and the locality. As the Southland Electric-power Board has its works in the immediate vicinity, it was deemed advisable to bring this area under the Act in order that the Board and its officers could exercise control over the reserve and prevent damage being done to the bush by visitors and others. Reservations effected. The total reservations that have been made since the passing of the Scenery Preservation Act in 1903 now total 725, of an aggregate area of 430,596 acres ; and, as pointed out in previous reports, they comprise the bulk of scenic attractions in the Dominion, including the fine cliffs and bush-clad banks of the Wanganui River; many thermal and scenic areas around Rotorua and the adjacent lakes ; mountains and forest-covered banks of streams, lakes, and rivers ; the magnificent kauri forest in the Kaihu district formerly owned by Mr. Trounson ; together with extensive areas which, in addition to the national parks, the Government has set aside in order to preserve for all time the best parts of the scenery and the indigenous forests of the Dominion. Lake Waikaremoana. In 1895 an area of forest lands on the south side of the lake had been permanently reserved for forest purposes, but the forest on the north shores of the lake still belonged to the Native owners. Last year, by means of negotiations with them, it was found practicable to arrange an exchange by which 22,000 acres of forest lands of inferior soil-quality extending along the north shore will be handed over to the Government in exchange for 848 acres of land of the Tapui Estate, admirably suitable for farming and settlement by the Natives. Seeing that extensive hydro-electric works have already been constructed to utilize the power furnished by the lake, it is very important that for utilitarian as well as aesthetic purposes the whole of the magnificent forest lands along the star-shaped lake should bo maintained for all time in its pristine beauty, and the acquisition of this large block of forest from the Native owners is of national importance. Rotoiti Scenic Reserves. A further area of 59 acres of the beautiful bush-clad land on the shores of Lake Rotoiti has been ceded to the Crown by the Natives. This area comprises portion of the old Rotoiti Native Township, which was subdivided under the Native Townships Act, 1895, but never developed into a township. At a representative meeting of the Native owners it was decided to donate a portion of the land to the public for scenic purposes, provided the Crown compensated the sawmillers who had secured cuttingrights, and also wrote off the survey charges incurred in connection with the original township subdivision. The necessary legislation to give effect to the proposal was provided under section 31 of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1.922, and all arrangements in connection with the scenic area have now been completed. Local control of the reserve will be vested in the Lake Rotoiti Scenic Board, which has already been set up under section 13 of the Scenery Preservation Act, 1908, and section 33 of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1919,