134 Transactions. 



the main route to the south forms a tolerably accurate line of diyision 

 between the SAvampy 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 agricultural land does not extend up to the road. Thus, 

 whilst for a distance of twenty-five miles from Christchurch, along the 

 Leeston Eoad, 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 ti^amways 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 Avere dangerous swamps, but which ai-e noAv 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 of£ 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 ISTorth 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 

 prominent the new road, just constructed, by the gorge of Otira, across the 



