1144
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 28

column of the Schedule hereto in exchange for the fee-
simple of those areas of land described in the second column
of the said Schedule.

SCHEDULE.

As witness the hand of His Excellency the Governor,
this fourth day of April, one thousand nine
hundred and eight.

ROBERT McNAB,
Minister of Lands.

Opening Lands in Nelson Land District for Selection on
Renewable Lease.

PLUNKET, Governor.

IN pursuance and exercise of the powers and authorities
conferred upon me by the one-hundred-and-thirty-sixth
section of “The Land Act, 1892,” and its amendments, I,
William Lee, Baron Plunket, the Governor of the Dominion
of New Zealand, having received the report of the Under-
Secretary in this behalf, as in the said section is provided,
do hereby declare that the rural lands described in the
Schedule hereto shall be open for selection on Wednesday, the
twenty-fourth day of June, one thousand nine hundred and
eight; and also that the lands mentioned in the said Schedule
may be selected on renewable lease only, in accordance with
the provisions of section one hundred and twenty-one of the
said Act, as they contain, or are supposed to contain, metals,
minerals, or valuable stone; and I do hereby also fix the
prices at which the said lands shall be leased, as mentioned in
the said Schedule hereto, and do declare that the said lands
shall be leased under and subject to the provisions of “The
Land Act, 1892,” and its amendments.

SCHEDULE.

NELSON LAND DISTRICT.—WAIMEA COUNTY.

Second-class Unsurveyed Land.

Third-class Unsurveyed Lands.

Maruia .. | XII, XV, XVI | 4,515 | 3·84 to 4·56
Burnett .. | IV | | |

This area is known as the Mid-Maruia Block, and is
situated in the Maruia Valley, adjoining the Maruia
North Block (recently disposed of). The northern bound-
ary is about ten miles from the main Nelson-Westport
Road. The nearest town is Murchison, with which
the block is connected by bridle-tracks, which are being
greatly improved, and in some cases made into dray-roads.
From the northern boundary of the block to Murchison via
Doughboy Creek is a distance of about fifteen miles. From
the same boundary to Murchison via the mouth of the
Maruia River and the south bank of the Buller River the
distance is about eighteen miles. The track via Doughboy
Creek is on good grades, and will be most used for general
horse traffic. The land comprises forest-clad hilly country,
with flats and sloping ground. The soil is good on the flats
and along the banks, and may be classed as ranging from
fair to poor on the spurs. The formation, generally speaking,
is limestone, sandstone, and granite. The whole of the area
is well watered.

The block is separated from the Buller Valley coach-road
by the Maruia North Block, which has all been taken up.
Each section has been arranged so as to include a convenient
homestead-site, together with some adjacent flat land.

The altitude of the block ranges from 650 ft. above sea-
level on the banks of the Maruia to 2,300 ft. on the back
spurs.

The forest consists of red-birch and brown-birch, with a
few white-pine, black-pine, and red-pine, and occasional
totara and black-birch, the underscrub consisting of broad-
leaf, five-finger, pepper-tree, fuchsia, &c. There is thus good
feed for stock in the forest.

This block is capable of being utilised successfully as
healthy sheep and cattle grazing country. The climate is
good.

Matakitaki .. | IX, XIII | 2,252 | 3·84 to 4·08

This area is known as the Rappahannock Block, and
is provisionally subdivided, each section being apportioned
a proportionate area of river-flat suitable for a homestead-
site. The altitude ranges from 1,100 ft. to 2,600 ft.
above sea-level, and the quality of the land is above
the average; it consists of rich alluvial soil from 18 in. to
4 ft. deep on the river-flats and fair clay soil from 6 in. to
3½ ft. on the terraces. The higher portion of the block is
hilly, of conglomerate-rock formation, with soil good in the
gullies and on the slopes, but inferior on the tops of the
spurs. The main valley lies to the sun, and is exceedingly
well sheltered from cold winds. The whole of the land is
forest-clad with light, brown, and red birch, and there is a
dense undergrowth of black scrub, horopito (pepper-wood),
konini (fuchsia), and puka (broadleaf) on the flats, and a
lighter undergrowth of konini, horopito, and puka growing in