152

TENDERS will be received at the office of His Honor the Superintendent till noon of Tuesday, the 5th day of May, 1863, for the erection of the South Dunedin District School.

Plans and specifications may be seen, and forms of tender obtained, at the office of the Provincial Engineer.

By order,
John Logan,
Clerk to Superintendent.
Dunedin, 25th April, 1863.

FRESH Tenders will be received at the office of His Honor the Superintendent, until 12 o’clock noon of Tuesday, the 12th May next, for the construction of about 6½ miles of road leading from Tuapeka towards the Dunstan.

Plans and specification may be seen, and forms of tender obtained, at the office of the Road Engineer, Dunedin; and at Goodall’s Hotel, Tokomairiro.

By order,
John Logan,
Clerk to Superintendent.
28th April, 1863.

FRESH Tenders will be received at the office of His Honor the Superintendent, until 12 o’clock noon of Tuesday, the 12th May, for the construction of about 115 chains of the road leading from the Taieri Ferry towards the Tokomairiro River.

Plans and specification may be seen, and forms of tender obtained, at the office of the Road Engineer, Dunedin; and at Goodall’s Hotel, Tokomairiro.

By order,
John Logan,
Clerk to Superintendent.
28th April, 1863.

OAMARU TOWN BOARD.

Election of a Member.

Oamaru, 16th April, 1863.

SIR—I have the honor to inform you that at a meeting of the Electors, held this day, according to Gazette Notice of the 31st ult.,

Mr. George Quarrie was elected a Member of the Oamaru Town Board, in the room of Mr. Charles Traill, who declined to act.

I have the honor to be,
Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
T. W. Parker,
Returning Officer.

The Provincial Secretary,
Dunedin.

SURVEYOR WANTED. Apply immediately to the Chief Surveyor, Dunedin.

SUPPLY OF CATTLE AND SHEEP.

The following letter from His Honor the Superintendent to the Honorable the Colonial Secretary is published for general information:—

Superintendent’s Office,
Dunedin, 24th April, 1863.

The Honorable
The Colonial Secretary.

SIR—I have the honor to bring under the consideration of His Excellency’s Government the very serious position in which this Province is placed, owing to its supply of Cattle and Sheep being not only insufficient for present wants, but totally inadequate to provide for future consumption.

The facts elicited through the correspondence which passed between this office and the General Government during the months of August, September, and October, of last year, resulted in so far removing the prohibitory restrictions then in force, as to permit the importation of Cattle from Port Albert to Otago. The result of this permissive Act has been the introduction of 800 head only of Cattle from that Port, a quantity which produced no appreciable effect on the market; and having been killed as imported, can have no influence as regards future supplies.

By reference to the correspondence just alluded to, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, it would appear that it was the opinion of His Excellency’s Government, and also of His Honor Major Richardson (then Superintendent of Otago), that the scarcity of animal food then existing here, and its necessary consequences, were likely to be but temporary duration. Subsequent experience and existing facts do not, however, give their sanction to these opinions. On the contrary, statistics, as far as they can be gathered, go to prove not only that the pressure still continues, and must under any circumstances be, ere long, severely felt, but that unless other markets be opened, it will be continually on the increase. The following statements, which, from the sources whence they are derived, I am able to say I believe to be approximately correct, may be adduced in illustration—

1st. In the month of August, 1862, the population of the Province of Otago was about 30,000 souls.

2nd. The quantity of live stock in the