bottom of the bore-hole to above water, the fuse being fastened to it. The cartridge is then complete. Care must be taken that the diameter of the stick and cartridge together do not exceed one inch, else if the hole has not been bored perfectly straight, or if any roughness is left in its sides, the cartridge may not go home, and only the top of the snag will be blown away. The water is sufficient tamping for dynamite.

The hole is bored with an inch-and-a-half shell auger, that kind being found superior to American or others, as it cleared itself of the borings better than they did. The hole is bored down to the depth at which it is desired to cut off the snag.

The sub-aqueous telescope, or instrument for viewing the snags under water, is indispensable; without it much valuable time would be wasted; it is difficult to see objects clearly under water even under the favourable circumstances of a clear sunshiny day and the surface of the river smooth, and it becomes impossible to do so with a slight ripple on it, which is its usual condition. It is necessary to bore into solid wood, some of the snags are rotten at the sides, and a charge exploded there is wasted; with the telescope you can see exactly where to bore, the amount of dynamite required, and the work can proceed uninterruptedly.

The charge of dynamite used varied with the size of the snag—from 5oz. to 24oz. were tried; the average charge was 8oz. It was found to be false economy to use too little, as the explosion then only shattered the stump, and it took double or treble the quantity next shot to clear it away entirely. About half-a-pound was sufficient for a stump two feet in diameter. The workmen judged how many packets of dynamite to place in the hole according to size of the snag, and upon these the cartridge was placed. Though each packet is wrapped in thick paper, they all explode instantaneously.

The snag which sunk the p.s. “Quickstep” was four feet diameter. The men revenged her by placing one pound and a-half of dynamite in it. After the explosion not a vestige of it could be found.

Effects of the Explosion.—The action of dynamite on the snags is peculiar; it invariably cuts them off at the bottom of the auger-hole, leaving a flat surface on the remaining part of the stump, as if a cross-cut saw had done it. One new pile which was desired out of the way, was cut off at the water's edge, then bored as usual, and after the explosion the part from the bottom of the auger-hole upwards floated to the surface with the hole still through it, and bearing signs as if another saw had been at work below water cross-cutting it. The whole of the snags operated upon were upright stumps of trees, with one exception. This was a log resting horizontally, out of water. The men hoped to split it up, and bored a hole in the middle

of the log to its centre. Then the same cross-cutting action was seen; it did not split the log, but cut it nearly in half, as if it had been done with a gouge; and a second shot in the same place showed a like result. Then they found an old split in the end of the log; a charge in this simply laid it open along the line of the old cleavage. Some few of the snags evidenced a downward force from the explosion, disappearing entirely; the only thing remaining to show where they had been being air-bubbles rising from the sandy river-bed at the spot. One hollow snag, three feet diameter and the same deep, with a shell only two to three inches thick, showed this downward force well. Many charges had been tried in the shell, but without much effect, as they did not seem to be able to get a hold of it, merely splintering it. One pound of dynamite was then placed at the bottom of the cavity, and after the explosion an oar was put down the split nine feet! but the old stump stands triumphantly there still. Some people use dynamite for felling trees. The writer is not aware how they apply it, but thinks the observed cross-cutting action should be further experimented upon. If boring a hole from the outside to the centre of a tree, and exploding dynamite therein, does not shatter it for timber, proves expeditious and economical in felling, it would certainly save many lives per annum, as the fuse could be timed to let every one get clear of the tree, and no accidents to bushmen should then be chronicled.

The cost of blowing up snags by dynamite must be trifling as compared with the method followed during the war by the Government of cutting them out with saws. The aforesaid company tried this plan before the writer adopted the dynamite; it then cost them fifteen shillings per snag, with the dynamite about five shillings each. On the average three men are able to blow out eight snags per day.

Names of the wood operated on are (mostly) kauri, matai, and rimu; the latter resisted the dynamite more than the others, taking at least double the quantity to blow them out. The top of the snag which sunk the p.s. “Waipa” is now in the Auckland Museum; it is kauri; when cut off by a diver and brought into contact with the air it split up directly, as you may now see it.

Further experimeuts will be made on next snagging expedition, with a view to lessening the cost of blowing up snags, by doing away with the boring and making the dynamite do the whole work—viz.: First, upon small snags of nine to twelve inches in diameter by encircling the trunk by packets of dynamite like a string of sausages round it to see if it will cut the snag off. Second, upon snags of from one to two feet in diameter, to see if exploding the dynamite on the somewhat flat top will remove them. Third, to ascertain the effect of a sausage-like string of dynamite exploded