long period of time. To gain the interior of the Province and open up its vast resources for development, as well as to give the greatest facilities for bringing the products to market, has unquestionably been the aim of all interested. How best to attain this has been the question of difficulty. Several different routes were suggested, all of which had their ardent supporters, who were equally strong in their denunciations of the rival lines.
A Royal Commission decided on the present course, and what Royalty does cannot be wrong. So the traveller, in journeying along in the comfortable carriage must just give rein to his fancy, and in idea form an estimate of how valuable these disturbed hills, glens and chasms would have been for human occupation, had nature only put a sufficiently heavy steam roller over the surface, squeezing down here and filling up there, so that there would be space flat enough on which a man could place the soles of his feet. There are pretty glimpses of crag and river to be gotten which will in the days to come fascinate the artist, but fine views do not fill the purse nor captivate the majority of human kind. As far as opening up land for settlement goes, this line, so far as it has gone, is decidedly the worst of those proposed.
The train after leaving the Main South Railway carries the travellers over a larger extent of splendid agricultural country—across the heart of the Taieri Plain—than either the famed carses of Stirling or Gowrie in the old land contain; and then leaving the flat country and taking to the hills, a winding course is followed, and now and again darkness envelopes, whilst the engine with panting haste passes through four short tunnels, "heighs and howes" occupying the intervening space. Then the Wingatui Viaduct is reached, which holds the reputation of being one of the greatest triumphs of engineering skill in the Southern Hemisphere, and for which Mr. Blair, the Engineer, and his assistants have received every meed of praise.
A journey along this line is strongly recommended, showing as it does the contrast between fertile plains and barren hills.
The Viaduct is, however, an interesting work. It stretches between two ridges of the mountain, and was preferred by the engineer to filling in and embanking, both for durability and
