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bridge over the Buller, and making other observations.

I shall now proceed to make a few remarks on the various works which have been executed on the West Coast during the last year and a-half.

MAIN ROAD BETWEEN WESTPORT AND COBDEN.

This stands first in importance, and may be divided into sections, for clearness of illustration, viz.:—

Westport to Charleston—22 miles.

Made as follows:—7 miles of face to Cape Foulwind; about 3 miles over the plain, the through bush, is along ride, laid with wash facines, and covered with sand about 14 feet wide, suitable for dray traffic; then another short beach, and a short cutting through a narrow neck of scrub, followed by a 10-mile beach of hard sand, and terminating with a piece of road through bush, with side and other cuttings, and a bridge over the Nile, with cutting up the hill beyond into the town. All this work is well carried out, and Cobb's coach runs daily from each place, at such times as suit the tides, and so as to make the beaches available.

There are two landing-places here, one in Constant Bay, immediately in front of the town, which is laid out on ground rising from the Bay, and one a little to the North, not far from the river mouth. Constant Bay is composed of a small circular sandy beach, to which access is gained by a channel between high shelving rocks, about 60 feet wide, and several chains in length, making the entrance at any time a most critical proceeding, and when there is any sea on, highly dangerous. The other landing is merely a piece of the open beach, marked off by signal staffs which denote the best course to vessels entering.

The main streets of Charleston are formed and metalled, and a good metalled road, about a mile long, has been made from the town towards the diggings, suitable for dray traffic. A tramway is now in course of construction by Mr. Nees from the second described landing-place to the-diggings.

Charleston to Brighton—11 miles.

Consisting of a good horse road, metalled, over the Pakihi, which is made of ground partly level, partly undulating and hilly, and much of which is covered with bush and scrub. The road crosses three rivers, of considerable size, one of which is bridged; it emerges on the beach about 1 1/2 or 2 miles north of Brighton, the latter portions being made through scrub and very wet ground, which has been well and solidly paved with stone.

A tramway extends from Brighton northwards to St. Kilda, a small township situated under the terrace, on which are situated the diggings, about 1 1/2 miles long, on which a passenger van runs daily.

The town of Brighton runs into the sea close by, to the southward, and is made up from the river and Woodpecker Bay, which is about three quarters of a mile off, lies a rocky promontory and a sandy beach, covered with many rocks, some of which have lately become deprived by storms of a former deep covering of sand, thus almost entirely stopping dray traffic between the Bay and Brighton, so the drays cannot now pass between the rocks. The necessity for obviating this inconvenience was so apparent, that I called for tenders for forming a dray road over the worst part of the rocky shore, and accepted one for £11 per chain, for thirteen chains, authorising also the formation of a narrow foot track, by which persons may travel independently of the beach.

Brighton to Razor-back—16 1/2 miles.

This is an inland road, made to avoid the rocky bluffs and precipices on the coast-line, and lies entirely through bush. The first three and a half miles are along the southern bank of the Fox river, partly on flat land and partly in rocky side-cutting. The next one and a half mile is a bush of that river, in the river bed, the stream being crossed no less than seventeen times.

When the river is low, this is not very objectionable; but in freshes it is a complete bar to all traffic, and very dangerous to travellers, who might attempt to continue their journey while the flood lasted.

Thirteen of these crossings might be saved at an expense of £350 to £400; but in answer to all my enquiries on the subject, it appears next to impossible to obtain a road at any practicable level which shall avoid all the fords, without going to a very great expense indeed.

Nearly the whole of the remainder of the road is either gravelled or metalled; in the latter case with broken rock, and in some parts corduroyed where metal was not easily obtainable. The metalling here must have been very expensive.

The bush has been felled and cleared, generally twenty-two feet wide; the gradients have been well preserved, and the whole work very creditably carried out. The scenery around is very romantic, being bounded by very high limestone cliffs steeply escarped, and crowned and clothed with bush.

Razor-back to Cobden—27 miles.

The first ten miles of this is along a good hard beach, that is, at low water; at high water the travelling is more difficult. Then follows the Seventeen-mile beach which a track has been cut about a mile and a half long, nearly all in loose stone and rock; next, the Ten-mile creek and bluffs, over which a track, about two and a half miles long, has been cut out of the cliff and side-rock, and a bridge over the break at the Nine-mile bluff with a road about one and a half miles, and Point Elizabeth over which an excellent horse road, all metalled, has been made, about two miles. The beaches between these bluffs gradually become worse for travelling over, as we proceed south, that between Point Elizabeth and Cobden being very heavy and toilsome.

FROM COBDEN UP THE GREY

The old walking track has been altered, where necessary, and converted into a good useful horse track, at a low level, well metalled, nearly all the way to the coal-mine, about seven miles beyond which to the Arnold ferry, it is also practicable for horses, but a few places here and there will need metalling, should there be much traffic.

The track between Westport and Cobden is now in such a state for traffic that the distance, about 70 miles, may be performed with a change of horses in about 14 hours.

WESTPORT.

I will now revert to Westport, and make some additional remarks on that and the other townships and districts.

From the landing-place on the south bank of the Buller opposite Westport, a good horse road has been made and metalled to Addison's Flat, otherwise called Waites' Pakihi, or Skibbereen, four miles of which are a portion of the old track up the Buller improved by ditching and metalling; the remaining portion, also about four miles, follows the foot of the