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trade carried by vessels of large burden; and by the mail and Inter-colonial steamers touching at Southland, but goods shipped or discharged here, are at present subject to the inconvenience, delay and expense of being transmitted to and from Invercargill by water as above stated, the distance being nearly double that by land; and owing to unfavourable winds and tides, several days are frequently lost in attempting to make the passage by lighter. The charge for conveyance of goods by lighter is in consequence high at present, about 12s. per ton, but it has been much higher than that amount.

The importance therefore of establishing a Railway communication between Invercargill and Bluff Harbour, with a branch to Mokomoko, is obvious, and accordingly the Bluff Harbour and Invercargill Railway was undertaken, and the works are now far advanced towards completion.

The goods required for the greater part of the Province must, as already stated, necessarily arrive at these Harbours, and as they are the nearest and most accessible ports, for the Wakatipu Gold Fields, and for a considerable part of the adjoining Province of Otago, a large proportion of the supplies for these districts must be imported there; and the wool of the pastoral districts be exported thence. Kingstown (Wakatipu) is about 84 miles distant from Invercargill; at present a part only of the supplies is carried from Invercargill by dray, the remainder from Dunedin, also by dray, a distance of 180 miles. The present cost of conveying goods from Invercargill is about £15 or £16 per ton; from Dunedin about £25.

To meet the requirements of the Lake traffic, and at the same time to open up by Railway communication the fertile central districts of Southland, the Great Northern Railway, now also in a forward stage of construction, was undertaken. This line proceeds northward from Invercargill, in continuation of the Bluff Harbour and Invercargill Railway to Winton, a distance of 18½ miles in the direct route to the Lake Wakatipu Gold Fields.

The Southland Railways have been ably laid out by Mr. Heale, late Provincial Surveyor; the Railway and Harbour works have been designed by and are being carried into execution under the superintendence of Mr. R. M. Marchant, your Railway Engineer.

The Bluff line is being constructed of the standard English gauge of 4 feet 8½ inches, with rails 72 lbs. to the yard. The Great Northern Railway is being laid with wooden rails, in accordance with Mr. Davies’ patent; should the necessity arise, a light iron rail may be laid forming a line of continuous bearing, resting on a substantial sub-structure.

To no one who properly considers the rapid progress in operation in this and the adjoining Province, in agriculture, and increase of population and stock, can the entire success and further extension of these Railways be a matter of any doubt. Fluctuations in trade, more especially in the neighbourhood of Gold Fields, will occur, but the prospects of Southland resting mainly on its great extent of fertile lands, capable of supporting a large population, and its favourable geographical position, afford great assurance of its rapid increase in wealth and prosperity.

HARBOUR WORKS.

The Harbour Works at the Bluff and Mokomoko, have been entirely and substantially completed by the contractor Mr. MacKenzie.

At Bluff Harbour, these works consist of a face wharf 313 feet in length, and 33 feet in width in a minimum depth of 15 feet low water, spring tides, connected with the shore by two piers of about 270 feet in length, along one of which and the face wharf, the line of Railway has been carried; vessels alongside the wharf may discharge into or receive cargo from the Railway trucks alongside.

Mokomoko pier is 1650 feet in length, 27 feet in width, and extends into the estuary of the river Oreti, to a depth of 15 feet, low water spring tides. The line of Railway has been carried along this pier.

BLUFF HARBOUR AND INVERCARGILL RAILWAY.

The main line from Bluff Harbour to Invercargill is nearly eighteen miles and three quarters in length, (18 miles 52 chains.) The Mokomoko branch leaves the main line at a point about eleven miles, (10 miles 52 chains), distant from Invercargill; the branch is about a mile and quarter in length, (1 mile 28 chains), making the distance from Mokomoko Jetty to Invercargill, about twelve and a quarter miles, (12 miles 24 chains.)

The works of the main line and branch are far advanced towards completion.