NEW ZEALAND

OTAGO

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

GAZETTE.

Published by Authority.

Vol. VIII. DUNEDIN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1864. No. 318

Provincial Secretary’s Office,
Dunedin, 18th August, 1864.

HIS Honor the Superintendent directs it to be notified that he has received and accepted the resignation of

Charles Williamson,
es Warden, &c., on the Gold Fields.

James Paterson,
Provincial Secretary.

PUBLICAN’S LICENSE CANCELLED.—His Honor the Superintendent directs it to be notified that he has cancelled the Publican’s License No. 252, granted on the 17th February, 1864, to Patrick James Moroney, Camp Hotel, Skipper’s Point, Charleston.

James Paterson,
Provincial Secretary.
20th August, 1864.

CROWN LANDS.

Papakaio, Clarendon, Kuriwao, and Kaitangata.

NOTICE is hereby given that the following Blocks of Land will be open for application, on Tuesday, the 20th day of September next, viz:—Blocks III, V, VII, and VIII, Papakaio; block IV, Clarendon; block II, Kuriwao; and blocks IV and VI, Kaitangata. Papakaio is situate near the Waitaki, to the north of Oamaru; block IV, Clarendon, is situate on the Waihola Hundred, about 4 miles south from the Main South Road; the Kuriwao District lies between the Mataura and the Clutha, to the south of the Main South Road; Kaitangata District lies between the Tokomairiro and the Clutha.

W. H. Cutten,
Chief Commissioner.
Waste Land Board Office,
Dunedin, 20th August, 1864.

PORTOBELLO BUILDING STONE.—Analysis.—

The following memorandum from Dr. Hector to the Provincial Secretary is published for general information:—The stone submitted for analysis from Portobello is a Porphyritic Trachyte, similar in composition to No. 1 in the Table of Analysis, given at page 120 in my report on Building Stones. (See Council Paper, Session 1864, Departmental Reports.)

It is a kind of volcanic rock that is generally met with in the form of dykes or veins traversing other volcanic rocks. It consists almost purely of Felspar, partly in a crystalline form, which gives to the un-dressed surface a fine pearly lustre. It can hardly be termed porous, but as it is full of minute cavities, it absorbs water to a considerable extent on immersion. This renders the density of the rock variable, so that a cubic foot of it in mass would only weigh 92.59 ozs., while, according to the real specific gravity of the mineral substance, it should weigh 2469 ozs.

If this rock can be got in large quantity uniform with the sample, it will form the most useful kind of building stone I have met with in the Province, as its chemical composition places it at the head of the list of volcanic rocks, while its texture is such that it can be worked almost as easily as a freestone, with the finest qualities of which it will also bear comparison for purity of color and ornamental appearance.

Wherever I have seen it in place this rock has always shown a tendency to vary in composition and to pass latterly into a breccia conglomerate like that behind Port Chalmers; and further, it is traversed by iron-stained fissures or “shakes” that divide it into masses of irregular shape and size.

If the Quarry from which the sample submitted was taken presents these characters, the Contractors would find great difficulty in supplying stone of uniform quality from it, so that a special examination of the locality would require to be made before forming a