AQ8 Proceedings. 
The same is the case with the cost of fitting-up the Telegraph, especially . 
in the present fluctuating state of wages in Australia and Van Diemen’s 
Land. I specify in the annexed Estimate the time occupied in fitting-up, 
on the supposition that the men employed, having been instructed by the 
Inspector, set out in parties of two—a principal fitter and a labourer or 
assistant,—each party with a horse and cart, to convey their materials and 
provisions if necessary, the road being understood to be a good one, and 
that each party take from three to four days to erect a mile of telegraph. 
I leave, however, the rates of wages blank. 
ESTIMATE. 
Passage-money and expenses of Inspector and his Atinant™ 
Instruments for —— Stations at £45 each . 
Station-houses or offices .........sseeee ase 
Conducting-wire and fittings—cost ike nine Manetttertrreti ts 
Four ewt. No. 8 eae hest aaerb iron 7 itch present 
PIICGE4Ussucattevtiitsiettraiisvserrticteiesrcrceacerttetnisstitecettseis2¢ sav O mn O MEO! 
Freight, £5 per ton ....... : ? 0 0 
Thirty insulators, at 18. 3d. reach Do festertte tsar 17 6 
£10 17 & 
Thirty Posts, 22 to 24 feet long, 5 inches diameter at large end, 
and 3 to 4 inches at smaller, of hard and durable timber, 
seasoned, including labourand cartage............ reretreseet tts 3 
Fitting up wire, fitter and assistant, four days, at rotary 
OTScIAN Gari AOL VS: Ai ues cecksesentsrsstrtspetstetteesenesteres: 
Miscellaneous expenses ..........scesscessesseceesees oir on 
One hundred and twenty miles of wire, at £ rari 
Contingencies, 10:per Cont Uicesct: Gcsdossevsttecasesevteogeucessedessates 
Totals» ss. © 
The prospective fall in the price of wire in Britain, to which I have already 
referred, would diminish this estimate by about 32s. per mile, or £192 in 
all. For the reasons already mentioned, it is difficult to estimate the pro- 
bable annual cost of repairs; 20s. per mile per annum may be looked 
upon as a reasonably safe estimate. 
The salaries of the clerks to work the telegraph can only he estimated 
on the spot. 
Third.—Remarks on a Submarine Telegraph from Van Diemen’s Land 
to Australia, in connection with a line to Melbourne, Sydney, and Geelong. 
At the eastern end of Bass’s Straits, between Wilson’s Promontory in Aus- 
tralia and Cape Portland in Van Diemen’s Land, there extends a chain of 
islands which offer remarkable facilities for the laying a submarine tele- 
graph, to communicate through Melbourne with Sydney and Geelong. 
