Cape Grisnez, with a view to possible engineering operations. The survey was carried out by running continuous lines of soundings from the neighbourhood of the Foreland to within three miles of the French coast.

Along the three central lines of this section soundings were obtained about 400 feet apart, the bottom being probed at each cast (by a machine, constructed for the purpose, weighing 7 cwt.) to an average depth of 8 inches, and specimens of the soil brought up. It may be interesting to state further that, on the oozy bank off Dover, the probing machine penetrated to a depth of nearly 5 feet, while in the offing 14 inches was the greatest depth reached, of which 6 inches consisted of drifting substances, such as gravel, sand, stones, etc., overlying 8 inches of chalk, the upper part of the latter, generally soft, hardening with the descent. Numerous fine specimens of chalk, of various colours, were obtained. But frequently the machine would not penetrate at all, and in some cases, where the attempts were repeated, the lower part of the probe was repeatedly broken and destroyed by contact with the hard bottom. The substrata of bottom of the Channel from the Foreland across to near Cape Grisnez was found to consist entirely of chalk, but varying much in density as well as in colour; white and grey prevailing near the Foreland and in mid-channel, and brown as Cape Grisnez was approached. Veins of soft chalk, resembling pipeclay and varying in colour according to situation, were occasionally met with: but the general character of the ground was hard and very uneven, especially from mid-channel towards the French coast, where the great strength of the tidal stream appeared to have swept away drifting substances, and even to have hollowed out the soft veins of chalk, leaving only the hard ridges between.

The result of this survey seems to prove, from the unevenness of the ground and the strength of the current, unfavourable to a scheme which has been proposed of connecting this country with France by an iron tubular subway, though not unfavourable to a tunnel.

During the latter part of the season the Lightning, under StaffCommanders Richards and W. B. Calver, was occupied in making a new survey of the estuary of the River Dee and its approaches, which were found to have much changed since the survey of 1859. The Survey of Portsmouth and its neighbourhood has been conducted by Staff-Commander D. Hall, with a steam launch and a small party. During the past season a minute measurement has been made of the depths on the Bar of Portsmouth Harbour,

an

operation which it is highly necessary to make periodically, in order that timely measures may be taken to maintain the channel at a depth of 20 feet, or nearly so, at low water.

These successive examinations have shown that the deepening of the entrance to our greatest Naval depôt, which was effected by dredging between the years 1858 and 1863, has proved a great success nevertheless, some further dredging operations are required, principally to carry out conditions not strictly fulfilled on the occasions referred to.

Now that the bed of the Channel has assumed a position of perfect rest, it is most desirable that these operations should not be delayed.

Commander Hall has also re-surveyed the Medina River on a large scale, with the view to deepening certain parts of the channel by dredging; and plans on 30 inches to a mile have been constructed of the upper portions of Portsmouth and Langston harbours, showing the connecting channel facing Hilsea lines which has been excavated for the passage of gunboats.

Tidal diagrams have also been constructed, with the view of showing the probable effect which would be produced on the bar of Portsmouth by connecting the tidal waters of the two harbours.

Mediterranean and Red Sea.-Captain Nares and the officers of H.M.S. Newport have been employed during the last summer in prosecuting the survey of the coasts of Sicily and the coral-banks between it and the coast of Tunis; a suitable channel was descried south of the Skerki reef, through which the telegraph-cables connecting Gibraltar and Malta, and the latter with Bona, have been successfully laid.

In consequence of the increased traffic through the Red Sea since the construction of the Suez Canal, a re-survey of the Gulf of Suez became necessary, and the Newport was detached from the Mediterranean on this service in September, since which time the survey has been vigorously prosecuted in the face of many difficulties very considerable progress has already been made, and the ship is about to return, until the cool season again sets in, when she will be replaced by a vessel more suited to cope with the weather and the climate of the Red Sea.

In compliance with a request from the Indian Government that a re-survey should be made of the port of Aden, previous to the dredging operations about to be undertaken for increasing its capabilities, Navigating-Lieutenant Ellis was sent from England in October to carry out this service, which has been satisfactorily completed.

West Indies.-Navigating-Lieutenant George Stanley has succeeded Staff-Commander Parsons in the conduct of this survey, and has been employed during the past season, with one assistant, in extending the survey of Demerara, which was commenced in September, 1869.

The approaches to the Rivers Demerara and Essequibo, with the adjacent coast, having been completed, the surveyors have lately been employed in obtaining off-shore soundings on the extensive bank which fronts British Guyana, an operation of a very arduous and tedious character, in the small sailing-vessel at their disposal.

Newfoundland. This survey is conducted by Staff-Commander J. H. Kerr, aided by two assistants, and is carried on during the summer season in a small hired steam vessel. A portion of the last season was devoted to sounding the eastern approach to Belle Isle Strait, when the limit of the 100-fathom edge of the bank was well defined, in the interest of the line of passenger-vessels which run between Liverpool and Quebec, and adopt this route during a part of the year. The fogs which are so prevalent on this dangerous coast, and which, in addition to the presence of ice, enhance the difficulties of navigation, give an increased value to these soundings as a guide to the mariner: with the same view, depths have been obtained on the hitherto blank spaces in the charts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. During the latter part of the season, the surveyors were engaged in defining and charting the numerous dangers in the neighbourhood of Bonavista Bay, on the eastern coast of Newfoundland.

In the depth of winter, Commander Kerr and his assistant aided in several attempts to recover the broken Atlantic cable, but, owing to a constant succession of storms, intense cold, and the prevalence of ice, their efforts were unsuccessful.

British Columbia.-Staff-Commander Pender and his two assistants have been employed during the past season in examining the rugged western seaboard of the islands which front the coast of British Columbia, northward of Vancouver Island; which have been completed, as well as the inner and sheltered ship-channels of communication, as far as the northern boundary of the colony, in 54° 40′ N. lat. Additional soundings have also been obtained on the bar at the entrance of the Goletas Channel, at the north end of Vancouver Island, and re-surveys, on a large scale, of Beecher and Pedder bays, at the eastern end of St. Juan de Fuca Strait. This survey may now be considered complete, and sufficient to meet all the requirements of the navigator and the settler for many years to come, and the party have been consequently withdrawn.

Cape of Good Hope.-During the past year this survey, under the conduct of Navigating-Lieutenant Archdeacon, has made excellent progress: the coast has been completed from Lambert Bay, northward, to a few miles beyond the Orange River, a distance of about 250 miles, although, from the want of a vessel, it has not yet been possible to complete the soundings off it.

Great hopes were entertained that the entrance to the Orange River would have proved navigable, thus opening up a new and shorter route to the lately-discovered diamond fields: such hopes, however, were not realised, the entrance having been found obstructed by an extensive sandbar, and the river within, for several miles, a mass of sandbanks.

A survey, however, of Port Nolloth, about 50 miles to the southward, has been executed. It is a small, but very safe harbour for vessels of light draught, and is becoming of considerable importance to the colony as a port of shipment for the copper-ore obtained from the mines which are situated about 90 miles from the coast. "Great credit," Mr. Archdeacon remarks, "is due to the Copper-mining Company for the energetic manner in which they are carrying out works for developing the mineral wealth of this otherwise unproductive tract of country: a steam tramway is in course of construction from the port to the mines, 40 miles of which were completed and in working order at the end of December."

This surveying party has undergone considerable hardships and privations, consequent on the scarcity and extreme saltness of the water, and the almost entire absence of inhabitants in the vicinity of the coast, where the country is little better than a barren sandy

waste.

South Australia.-During the early months of 1870, NavigatingLieutenant Howard and his assistant were employed in a small colonial schooner in sounding the neighbourhood of Tipara Reef in Spencer Gulf, and examining the northern coast of Kangaroo Island, between Point Marsden to Cape Borda, a distance of over 50 miles.

Subsequently the coast was surveyed from the mouth of the Murray River to Cape Jaffa, 40 miles south of Lacopede Bay. Mr. Howard remarks of this bay that, although quite open to the westward, it is remarkable as a perfectly smooth anchorage; the swell from the Southern Ocean being entirely broken up and dissipated by the time it reaches within a mile of the beach, in four fathoms of water, even in the most violent gales. This circumstance he attributes to the very gentle undulation of the bottom, and the consequent very gradual shoaling of the water from about 10 miles off-shore up to the beach.

Later in the season the coast line was completed from Cape Jaffa to Glenelg River, making altogether a distance of about 230 miles of coast examined during the year; the greater part of this, owing to the impossibility of effecting a landing from boats, was carried out by shore parties, and the off-shore soundings still remain to be completed. On this work the surveyors are at present employed.

Victoria, Australia.-Navigating-Lieutenant H. I. Stanley, aided by two assistants, has completed the line of coast known as the Ninety Mile beach, or Gipps' Land, and carried the survey eastward to Cape Everard, a point about 40 miles from Cape Howe, the eastern limit of the colony. The greater part of this stretch of coast is uninhabited; and, as a landing could not be effected with safety, it became necessary to carry on the survey by walking parties, crossing the rivers on rafts constructed of drift timber. In this manner, and in the face of many difficulties and privations, among them the absence of fresh provisions, 120 miles of coast were surveyed in less than three months, and conspicuous beacons erected for fixing the positions of the soundings still to be obtained. In addition to the above, large-scale plans have been made of Port Fairy and Warrnambool Harbour.

The coast has been closely sounded, from Wilson Promontory to near Merriman Creek, on the Ninety Mile beach, amounting in measurement to about 400 square miles. The total amount of coast surveyed by this party during the year has been 180 miles, the greater part of which was open and exposed.

New South Wales.—It was noticed in the last annual report that the seaboard of this colony, together with the off-shore soundings, had been completed; the charts of the whole coast have since been published, and reflect the highest credit on all the officers who have been engaged in this excellent survey. Navigating-Lieutenant Gowlland, who, in succession to Captain Sidney (the officer who commenced and conducted the survey for several years), has brought it to a close, has been retained for a time in the colony by permission of the Admiralty, for the purpose of completing the inner waters, and has lately finished the survey of Clarence River.

Queensland.-Staff-Commander Bedwell, who is in charge of this survey, has, with one assistant, in a small colonial vessel, carefully examined and surveyed the shores of the colony from the northern part of Hervey Bay almost to Port Curtis, a distance of about 140 miles; and this stretch of coast has been closely sounded to a distance of 25 miles off-shore.

Eastern Archipelago.-Under this designation are included the Sulu Sea and the channels among the Philippine Islands leading