704 Transactions. 
sailing directions by Captain Richards, of the “ Victoria," note the white 
beacon on Pencarrow and the landmark on Beacon Hill. The Cook Strait 
Almanac of 1851 mentions that the Pencarrow beacon is not visible at а 
distance of five miles, except in clear weather. The New Zealand Pilot 
1856 mentions the barrel beacon, also the Pencarrow beacon, but not 
the red flag. In the New Zealand Pilot, 1856, the Government House 
flagstaff is noted as a leading-mark, also the ‘ Waterloo Inn," a large 
white building on the extreme of Kaiwarra Point. 
SIGNAL-STATIONS. 
The first -o was erected on Mount Albert, the peak to the 
south of Newtown Park, in 1844. The first signalman was Robert 
Houghton, a master mariner, who was also gazetted as keeper of the 
powder - magazine. The signals used in those days were the same 
as now used at the Mount Victoria Signal-station, though some of 
them have fallen into disuse. One that would be frequently used in the 
“ forties " and “ fifties "—the circle, for а brig—has probably not been 
used for many years. Until the days of regular steam communication 
with the Home-country the square, the signal for a ship, was an important 
signal to those who were expecting friends or important cargo, and they 
anxiously awaited the hoist of flags denoting the particular ship signalled. 
Cases were known, however, of vessels, though signalled, being delayed 
for days by adverse winds and weather. From the 13th September, 1849, 
the signals from Mount Albert were repeated on the flagstaff* which had 
been erected in front of the old Government House at a cost of about 
£100. In February, 1863, Mr. John T. Platt offered to repeat the signals 
on a flagstaff that he had erected at the foot of Tory Street. His letter, 
published in the Provincial Gazette, stated that the stafi was erected on 
his premises known as the “ Brick House," and that “ the signals would 
be repeated with accuracy and re egularity. The signals would be of 
-sufficient size and would be placed at sufficient height as to enable them 
to be seen clearly by the greater portion of the inhabitants of Te Aro 
Apparently the service was not satisfactory, as a petition was presented 
asking the Council to provide a station for Te Aro, or improve Platt’s. 
The change to Mount Victoria rendered any repeating within the town 
unnecessar 
While the signal-station was on Mount Albert the outside pilot-station 
was in a small cove a little to the west of Palmer Head, Tarakena Bay. 
On the 26th December, 1858, the Consulting Engineer, Mr. Carter, reported 
that the signal-station was in such a bad state as to remind one of the 
celebrated gun that needed a new lock, stock, and barrel. In 1866 it was 
decided that the pilot service should be located within the Heads, Worser . 
Bay being the position selected. Land was purchased and buildings 
erected, some of which are still in existence. A signal-station and à 
signals were repeated from the outer station.  Code-flags, both Com- 
mercial Code and Marryatt's, had been supplied, and by their means 
messages could be sent from town to vessels, the pilot-station, or the light- 
house at Pencarrow, or vice versa, by way of Mount Victoria. Later, 
* An illustration of the first Government House, with flagstaff before it, appears 
at p. 21 of the Cyclopedia of New Zealand, Wellington Provincial District, 1897. 
