xxxii. New Zealand Institute. 
Tempting, therefore, as is the proposal to rest the defence of Port 
Nicholson upon a system of torpedoes protected by artillery fire on 
the outer channel, this plan must be discarded in favour of one which 
will more surely effect the required object. 
It will be seen, on striking an arc of 4,000 yards radius from Hals- 
well Point as the centre, that the whole of the estuary within effective 
range of Wellington—ineluding the entrance channel and Evans’s 
Bay, but excepting a small portion on the southern side of the inner 
harbour (which, however, is well seen from Kaiwarra)—can be com- 
manded from the Halswell Point Peninsula. 
It is proposed therefore that. batteries shall be placed so as to com- 
mand the harbour, and the approach to it, at three points on that 
peninsula, namely, Halswell Point, Gordon Point, and the point 
about midway between the two; and that a station whence these bat- 
teries will be secured in the rear shall be established on Mount Craw- 
ford. Communications should be formed between these several posi- 
tions, and a road of access to the peninsula should be made along the 
shore on the east side of Evans's Bay. 
The batteries in the above-named positions, together with two or 
three guns on the high ground above Kaiwarra, will command every 
part of the harbour where an enemy's ship might take up a position, 
with a view of hostile action against Wellington. ^ Torpedo-vessels 
would also aid in the defence. 
A field-force acting from the central position of the barracks and 
the prison would be well placed for the support of the troops occupy- 
ing the works at Halswell Peninsula or at Kaiwarra, and would also 
be in readiness to oppose any attempt at a landing in Island Bay. 
This plan, whilst it will, under present circumstances, fully provide 
for the protection of Wellington, might in future years, if ever deemed 
desirable, be supplemented by defences on the outer line at Dorset 
Point, as also by batteries on Ward Island and Somes Island. 
PORT LYTTELTON. 
The defences of Port Lyttelton and Port Chalmers are not only 
of importance as regards the cities in their immediate neighbourhood, 
but also the whole east coast of the Middle Island. : 
The entrance to Port Lyttelton (the port of Canterbury) (see 
Plate IIL), upwards of 2,000 yards wide—the depth being between - 
8 and 9 fathoms—is between two precipitous heads about 400 feet 
high, and it would be out of the question to defend it by submarine 
mines supported by batteries on the heads. Moreover, the shore on 
the main land on either side of the harbour is so steep as not to pre- 
sent sites suitable for works for the defence of the approach to. 
