the good work went steadily on; and now, after the lapse of so many years, as I stood on the broad massive immovable rampart, listening to the hungry surge as it rushed impotently against the majestic buttress of the protecting pier—as I saw the sheltered ships idly rocking in calm security, and remembered the surf-boats and tossing cockleshell of a steamer of the former times—I felt indeed that here was a triumph worthy of the age—a prodigy of beneficent achievement that sheds a lustre on the name of humanity.
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Mr. Goodall, in his own modest way, thus writes me regarding the great work which will henceforth be associated with his name:—
"It had always been the wish of many of the leading residents of Timaru and neighbourhood to construct a safe harbour for Timaru, the hindrance to which seemed to be in the great force of the waves and the large quantity of shingle travelling on the coast. An experimental groin was constructed by Mr. Balfour, and reports were obtained from many leading English and colonial engineers. The experimental work was first buried in shingle, then washed away shortly after it was constructed; and the reports of the engineers were directly opposed to building a solid structure from the shore. The Harbour Board were not satisfied, and, as a last resource, called for competitive plans for a. harbour scheme. That of the present writer was chosen, and was approved of by a Government commission. This scheme proposed to construct
