from the time of its commencement, at an estimated cost of £25,731, and we are of opinion that, for a dray road, it is by far the best which could be selected. (See Appendix B)

14. With respect to the last proposal, viz., a line of railway, we feel some doubt as the extent to which our instructions warrant our consideration of any plan which does not bring the towns of Lyttelton and Christchurch into direct communication with each other. Looking merely at the general interests of the whole settlement, we are unanimously of opinion that the most advantageous mode of communication between the harbour and the capital would be by a line of railway, commencing at a deep water jetty at Gollan’s bay, alongside of which vessels of the largest size could discharge and receive cargoes without the use of lighters, thence passing by a tunnel three quarters of a mile long under Evan’s pass into Sumner valley; from Sumner passing through the cliffs overhanging the present sea wall by a second tunnel 660 yards in length, thence following very nearly the line laid out for the Sumner Road as far as the Ferry, where it would turn southward to avoid crossing the navigable part of the Heathcote, and cross that river opposite Dr. Earle’s section, entering Christchurch on the south side of the town, the station being placed on the Town Reserves. If this line were constructed, the communication between Lyttelton and Gollan’s bay would be by a tram road to be worked by horses or locomotives as might be thought most advisable.

15. The comparative shortness of the tunnels on this line, and the facilities it would afford for the shipping of minerals and agricultural produce from the Plains, as well as the advantage to the settlement of being able to bring steamers of the largest class alongside a railway wharf, form so many arguments in favour of its construction, that we feel we should be neglecting our duty were we not to call the attention of the Government to it. But considering that our instructions limit us to the question of the best means of connecting Christchurch and Lyttelton, rather than that of the best communication between the Plains and the shipping, we have not thought it right to incur the expense of making a detailed survey of the line, or of going into the question of estimate.

16. The only other line of railway which we can recommend is shewn by the accompanying Plan and Section. It commences at the old Custom House, and passes under the hills by a tunnel one and a half miles long, which would end near the house on Mr. Cookson’s section, commonly known as Martin’s, thence descending the western slope of the Bridle Path Valley it crosses the Heathcote at the north-west corner of Dr. Earle’s section, and terminates on the Town Reserve on the south of Christchurch.

17. The length of this line would be 6½ miles, the curves and gradients would be favourable, and the works present no engineering difficulties except on the Lyttelton side, where the formation of the Station ground and the first five chains of the tunnel, through sandy clay, would be attended with heavy expense. With the exception just named we anticipate no difficulty in the tunnel works: but owing to the abrupt rise and height of the hills, which would render it impossible to commence at several points at once, by means of shafts, the work would take four years to complete. The cost we have computed for a single line throughout, at £155,356. (See Appendix, C).

18. It will be seen then that there are only two lines of communication which fulfil the requisite conditions, and which we feel justified in recommending. The one an open Road passing by a Tunnel through Evan’s Pass, the other a railway running direct from Christchurch to Lyttelton. But when we recollect that the District which is dependent on Port Victoria for the export of its produce contains, within the Block, 1,600,000 acres—500,000 acres of which are fit for tillage, the uncertainty of the rate at which it will be bought up for cultivation, and the consequent doubtful rate of increase of immigration and agricultural produce, we feel it impossible to decide which of the two measures is best proportioned to the extent of the present and future wants of Canterbury. At the same time we are of opinion that if the Government can meet the outlay necessary for the formation of a railway, the tendency of such a measure, by removing the chief obstacle to the advancement of the settlement, would be to promote a very extensive immigration of purchasers, who may now be deterred by the reports of the difficulties of the hill road, and the dangers of the navigation.

19. As far as mere access to the Port is required, a good road twelve miles and a half long, practicable for horsemen or carts, would be a great accommodation to those possessing horse or bullock teams: wines, spirits, tea, sugar, and other articles liable to damage or pilfering on shipboard, might be conveyed by this road, and part of the wool would probably be carted, rather than sent by water. But the comparative smallness of the loads that a pair of horses or team of bullocks could bring over a road rising 440 feet in one and a quarter miles would preclude the possibility of the cost of carriage being materially reduced by it: bulky produce, such as potatoes would still