134 "Transactions. 
the main route to the south forms a tolerably accurate line of division 
between the swampy and well-watered belt of agricultural land on the sea- 
board, and the dry shingle plains which are only suitable for pasturage. In 
many places the agrieultural land does not extend up to the road. "Thus, 
whilst for a distance of twenty-five miles from Christchurch, along the 
Leeston Road, the country is fenced in and mostly under cultivation, pro- 
ducing largely both grain, dairy produce, and live stock, the Southern Rail- 
way, which is laid out so as to cross the Rakaia River as near to the sea as 
practicable, is yet two or three miles from the edge of this cultivated district, 
and runs for miles across a desolate-looking plain, without water, trees, or 
human habitations. It has been questioned whether it would not have been 
better to have laid out the Southern Railway with a series of curves running 
down towards the sea between the great rivers, to intersect the agricultural 
districts. This course would, however, have been open to very many objec- 
tions. The direct line across the shingle plains is, with the exception of the 
river crossings, the most inexpensive that could well be imagined ; whereas 
the construction of a locomotive line nearer to the sea, across a swampy 
country intersected with a network of creeks, would have greatly increased 
the cost per mile, besides adding greatly to the total mileage. 
It appears to me that this is precisely one of those conditions of country 
suited to the combination of light horse tramways with a main locomotive 
line, and I trust that before our next annual meeting we may see the 
experiment fairly tried in the Selwyn district, by the construction of a light 
tramway leading from the heart of the district to the main trunk line now 
in course of construction to the Selwyn. The line of the South Road between 
Timaru and the Waitaki possesses an interest as being a record of the great 
change which has been going on for some years past in the conditions of 
the country. In many places the road takes a circuitous course to avoid 
what some years ago were dangerous swamps, but which are now dry pas- 
tures. Whether this is due to the gradual rising of the land, to a diminution 
of the rainfall, or simply to increased evaporation, arising from the destruc- 
tion of the original rough vegetation through burning and feeding off by 
stock, is a question which deserves attentive examination. 
It may be thought worthy of being put on record that four-horse mail 
coaches were first put on the North and South Roads, running throughout 
the, whole length of the province, a distance of about 200 miles, on the 10th 
of October, 1863. 
But if there is little of scientific interest connected with the construction 
of the roads through the eastern portion of the province, the public works 
of Westland make ample amends for the deficiency. Amongst them stands 
quem Dorea constructed, by the gorge of Otira, across the 
