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small compared to what they must be during the long days of summer; in the month of April, the main stream of the Matukituki was about three chains wide and two feet deep; its shingle bed is one-half mile wide,—the stranded trees and other flood debris showed that all this channel is sometimes covered. The channels of the Makarora and Hunter gave similar evidence of the freshets that occur in them. The vast amount of water that is suddenly poured down by the rivers when at their maximum, is shown by the great rise and fall that takes place on the surface of the Lakes during the year; the even line of drift wood along the shore was evidence that the Lakes had subsided at least five feet from the last flood-mark,—the subsidence still continued, and will do so till the temperature changes to the ascending scale. Considering, then, that the Wanaka covers 75 square miles, the Hawea 48 square miles, and that the Clutha drains the whole, it may be inferred perhaps that the Lakes, like great reservoirs, are of much value to the country—that, without their broad expanse on which the melted snow might spread and be conserved, to pass away in the steady flow of a great river, the Clutha must have become an intermittent torrent—a Matukituki or a Makarora on a large scale, its valleys shingle and quicksand.

Pastures.—The pastures range from good to very inferior, according to the flower or higher altitudes on which they grow; as the qualities occur in scattered localities, and as the case or difficulty of access to them is another criterion of value, it may be well, in describing them, partly to follow the same routes as the prosecution of the Survey rendered necessary. The Cardrona Valley will have to be noticed, firstly—it lies N.E. and S.W., is 24 miles long, and from two to three miles broad; its river, for the last three miles of its course, flows through the Clutha Valley, and joins the river of that name one-quarter mile below, where the Wanaka and Hawea rivers unite to form it. The Cardrona Valley Proper consists of a narrow fertile strath, of a general elevation of 1,100 feet; this, together with the steep slopes of Pisa on the one side, and the spurs coming down from Middle Peak and Cardrona Mountain on the other, make up a piece of well-grassed country. Towards the head of the valley, the mountains close in and form the gorge through which the Cardrona flows for the last few miles of its course. At the head of this gorge there is a low saddle; on the west side of it, at a horizontal distance of one mile, and at a depth of more than 2,000 feet, the Kawarau pursues its narrow, swift, and tortuous course to the Clutha. On the right bank of the Kawarau, immediately below Double Cone and

Ben Nevis, there is ten or twelve square miles of good pasture; but this is so hemmed in by precipices that communication with it seems almost impossible, nor does the river afford any chance by fording, for, in addition to its great depth and speed, it flows in a deep rocky rut, from 30 to several hundreds of feet in perpendicular depth, below its immediate banks. The country between this river and the Kirtleburn consists of steep spurs, covered with coarse grasses—the peninsula opposite the confluence of the Nevis is the only exception, three or four square miles there being of fair quality. The Kawarau, before its junction with the Kirtle, enters a gorge so deep, black, and abrupt, as to seem almost unnatural; after flowing through this gorge for five miles, first in a N.E., and then in a S.E. direction, it enters at the S.W. corner of the Clutha Valley; and, after a further course of five miles in a S.E., N.E., and E. direction, it joins the Clutha just before that river enters into the Dunstan Mountains. The part of the Clutha Valley included in this Survey extends from two miles south of the Kawarau, to the Wanaka and Hawea Lakes; in length it is thirty-eight miles, and in breadth from two to twelve miles; it rises from 674 feet, at the junction of the Kawarau with the Clutha, to 1,562 feet—the elevation of the high terrace immediately above the mouth of the Cardrona. The soil consists of rich alluvial flats and shingle terraces, both well covered with grasses, suitable either for cattle or sheep. A narrow strip along the south side of the Wanaka Lake, of five miles in length and about one in breadth, connects the Clutha Valley with 30 square miles of very fair country, formed by the union of the Motatapu and Matukituki Valleys; this is partly covered with fern and scrub, but the soil being mostly alluvial, the 'burnings off' and grass-fostering influence of stock will rapidly improve it. What has been already noticed—together with about five square miles in detached patches at the head of the Hawea Lake, two square miles on the isthmus between the Wanaka and Hawea Lakes, and a choice piece of 16 square miles between Quartz Creek and Hawea river—complete all that can be said to be level or undulating, and permanently free, so far as the safety of stock is concerned, from snow.

What remains may be divided into 'good' and 'inferior' summer pasture: all below 4,000 feet of altitude may be classed as good, and from 4,000 to 5,500 feet as inferior; all higher than 5,500 feet barren. Under good, there will be included as follows:—

A belt of about two miles in breadth, encircling the lower spurs of Pisa, on the east and north sides of that mountain;