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Detailed Field Work.

As early as I could, after acquiring a general idea of the manner in which the geological formations were to be naturally grouped, I employed two field assistants to make a detailed examination of certain localities, where the results obtained would have an immediate and practical bearing.

One of these surveyors, Mr. Williams, has now been at work on the Saddle Hill and Green Island Coal Basin, and his maps, showing the boundaries of the various groups of strata, with their dip and strike, with copious notes, and every information which can be acquired from the natural sections without an expensive and lengthened examination, are well advanced.

The other surveyor, Mr. Davis, is employed upon the Shag Point Coal Reserve, making a correct a mining plan of it as the natural exposures of the strata along the coast will allow of, on which will be shown the various strata and seams of coal with the faults and dislocations by which they are disturbed. Both these assistants collect full suits of specimens, and I take as frequent opportunities as possible of going over the ground with them for the purpose of guiding their work. Without such lengthened and detailed scrutiny of the ground, but to which it would not be advisable that I should devote my whole time, no geological information could be obtained sufficiently accurate for Government to form an opinion from as to the extent and value of these and the other coal bearing districts.

Museum Store.

The accumulation of minerals, rocks, and fossils, has already reached over 500 specimens, so that the nucleus of a collection for a Museum is rapidly forming. Were there a proper place for its display, and a person appointed whose time might be wholly devoted to the management and arrangement of such a collection, I feel sure that valuable and interesting local specimens would be contributed by many in the Province, while I have the promise of liberal contributions and exchanges for New Zealand specimens from collectors at home.

To show the interest which is taken in this country by naturalists, I may mention that Professor Allman and Dr. Greville have consigned to me a large quantity of apparatus and materials for making a collection of the marine fauna of the coast, concerning which they will no doubt publish their researches; and of the specimens sent home, a complete set might be retained for a Museum here.

Botanists are of opinion that they have not yet obtained an exhaustive collection of the plants of the Middle Island, and especially of this southern portion of it; and I believe that Dr. Hooker is only waiting for more complete materials before undertaking the republication of his magnificent work on the Flora of New Zealand, but in a cheap and concise form to serve as a handbook for residents in the country. Other colonies, such as Victoria, Ceylon, Canada, British Columbia, and others, are having the same work done for them in such a form, and it has been usual for the Colonial Governments to bear the small expense necessary for the completion of those collections from their particular country, which are already stored in the Royal Hibernum at Kew.

Dr. Hooker expects me to add largely to the collection which he has for this Province, but to obtain the novel, rare, and peculiar specimens of plants, requires a more systematic search than I can find leisure for. I mention these circumstances in order to point out, that by a very small outlay, Government would be able to confer a great boon upon science, from which the Province would reap a direct benefit by hastening the publication of accurate information respecting its botanical products, in a cheap and accessible form.

The botany of the West Coast will be especially interesting, and in any arrangements for an exploration of that region, a properly qualified person should be included, whose whole time may be devoted solely to forming a collection of plants, as from the great humidity of the atmosphere their preservation will be a difficult task, requiring constant attention.

Meteorological Observations.

The Meteorological Observatory connected with this office was completed on the 1st September, since which time the observations have been made daily. For the present only the self-registering instruments are observed once a day, which is quite sufficient for the purpose of intimating the weather. From next month, however, a series of observations of a more exact nature will be taken three times a day in addition, as recommended by the Board of Trade, and from the results of which an exact comparison can be instituted between this and other climates. The instruments used are of the best construction, and have been carefully corrected by comparison with the Kew Observatory standards, and every care has been taken in exposing them to ensure freedom from disturbing influences.

The Observatory might be certainly in a better position, especially for the sake of