THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

145

the said "Passenger Act, 1855," to
have on board such ventilating appa-
ratus as therein mentioned, such
other provision shall be made for
ventilation as shall be required by
the Emigration Officer at the port of
embarkation, or, in his absence, by
the officers of Customs.
25. And, to prevent all doubts in the
construction of this Order in Council,
it is hereby further ordered, that the
terms "United Kingdom," "Passen-
ger," "Passenger Ship," "Passenger
Deck," and "Master" shall herein
have the same significations as are
assigned to them respectively in the
said "Passengers Act, 1855;" and,
unless inconsistent with the context,
words of one number shall import
both numbers.

And the Most Noble the Duke of New-
castle, one of Her Majesty's Principal
Secretaries of State, is to give the necessary
directions herein accordingly.
EDMUND HARRISON.

Appointment of Deputy Registrar of Births,
Deaths, and Marriages.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 1st April, 1864.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been
pleased to appoint
GEORGE FREDERICK HARRIS,
to be the Deputy of the Registrar of Mar-
riages, and of Births, Deaths, and Marriages
for the District of Napier.
This appointment takes effect on and from
the 1st day of July, 1863.
WILLIAM FOX.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 1st April, 1864.

THE following Report on the discovery of
Coal at the Kawa Kawa, Bay of Islands,
is published for general information.
WILLIAM FOX.

Russell, 17th March, 1864.

Sir,-A paragraph which recently appeared
in the Auckland papers announcing the dis-
covery of Coal in this neighbourhood, has
doubtless already made you acquainted with
that fact, but hoping that a description of the
geological position of the seam may not be
unacceptable, I take the liberty to address
you shortly upon the subject, and to send you
a few specimens I obtained from the locality.

The discovery was made about two weeks
since, on land belonging, I believe, to Maihi
Paraone, by some natives while engaged in
searching for Kauri gum in the bed of a
small stream which runs into the Kawa Kawa
river. I felt considerable surprise and no
little doubt upon the subject, when it was
first announced, from the apparent absence of
the usual formations indicative of the presence
of Coal, and knowing how the importance of
such discoveries are frequently magnified, I

determined to visit the place myself and form
my own judgment upon the matter.

The cretaceous formation which composes
the hills in the district of the Bay of Islands,
(except in one or two localities where the
quartz has broken through) is continued up
the Kawa Kawa, and beyond the point in
question, the existence therefore of Coal
would not be suspected by a casual observer,
there being nothing to indicate the presence
of it.

Near the bottom of the valley, however,
through which the creek above alluded to
flows, oolitic sandstone makes its appearance,
not in the vast deposits we have been accus-
tomed to see in England and Australia, but
in apparently a thin layer: in this, however,
I may be mistaken, as the hills are so covered
with soil and vegetation, that without ac-
tually digging into the bank the true nature
and extent of the rocks cannot be ascer-
tained.

Immediately under the oolite appears the
usual slaty shale covering the coal seam. You
will perceive, therefore, from the above de-
scription, that the coal belongs to what is
usually termed the secondary geological
period, and is therefore true coal, and not
lignite or the brown coal of the tertiary
period. I am unable to give much informa-
tion with regard to the extent of the seam,
but I was assured by an American blacksmith
who was searching for gum in the neighbour-
hood, that he had traced it for some distance,
and that he had probed the seam to the depth
of eight feet without penetrating through it.
He may, however, have been deceived by
probing at an angle, instead of perpendicu-
larly to the lie of the stratum. I was sub-
sequently informed by a native that the coal
appears also at Waiomio, a distance of five
miles off.

I send you some specimens of the Coal, the
oolitic
overlying shale and the oolitic sandstone,
a fragment I broke off the petrified
stump of a tree which was lying close to the
spot, and evidently belonged to the oolite.
A small creek, navigable for canoes, runs
within a quarter of a mile of the spot where
the coal was discovered, but from the landing
place on the Kawa Kawa the distance is about
three miles.

I may add, that I have tried the coal in a
stove, and found it to burn freely with a
bright flame and very little smoke; scarcely
any residue was left in the grate.

I have; &c.,
GEORGE M. MITFORD.

The Honourable the
Colonial Secretary.

TENDERS FOR FIREWOOD.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 2nd April, 1864.

TENDERS will be received, at this Office,
until noon of Friday, 15th April inst.,
for furnishing the Offices of the General
Government with Firewood, in such quantities