A report (D. No. 18) recently laid before the Assembly, gives some inter esting particulars regarding certain lines of tramways constructed by the 'Government for the use of various mining companies at Auckland and Coromandel. Most of the tramways are now worked by parties holding them under lease from Government, and to quote the letter of Mr. Sheehan, the Goldfields Secretary — " the Go vernment being dissatisfied with the manner in which the tramways on the Thames Goldfields have been man aged during the last two or three years, have determined to take such steps, if possible, as will ensure their being worked more economically and with less trouble to the Government for the future."

There are nine lines of tramways enumerated in the report, as con structed at the Thames, having a total length of 616 chains, and including 4 gravitating lines, of which 3 are wire tramways. The first constructed, the Moanataiari, 120 chains in length, cost £8,675 ; and we are informed that for the first three months — June to September, 1869— only 733 tons of quartz were sent down it. Two lines of wire tramway were subsequently constructed as feeders to the Moana taiari — Mad Man's Gully and Shooting Star lines— a < total length of 33 1 chains, coass .^ £1,369, which added to the of t'^jtfjiin line, make a total cost of £10^P.
