1841-1886
153
STATE OF HER MAJESTY'S COLONIAL POSSESSIONS. 309
is, in clearing the side channels, and arranging for the natural and proper discharge of rain-water, as well as to repair some particular localities, to render the passage of horses and pedestrians secure, his Excellency was pleased to authorize an expenditure of £61. 12s. 5d., of which I expended £31. 19. 2d., and arranged a contract for that purpose, obliging the party to execute the necessary work, as well as to keep the whole in repair until the 31st December 1850; and on visiting the line in the month of January of the present year, I was much gratified to find the whole road in very capital order, with the exception of those sea-coast parts, alluded to before, and some of the wooden bridges; several of these, however, I caused to be reduced in width, and was thus enabled to perform a satisfactory repair without any additional outlay, the sound portions of the abstracted timber being available for other bridges in the neighbourhood.
I have to report the commencement of the new road to avoid the Gap-hill, commencing at the Albany Godowns, and terminating at the bridge in the Wongneichung Valley. This service will, I hope, be completed in March, and be of great advantage to the public, as giving a healthful promenade and agreeable driving-road for the hot season.
The trees planted along the sides of some of the roads in the city have in general thriven tolerably well; about one-tenth of them, however, have been much injured by goats and drunken sailors, and other wanton injuries have been done to them by other parties; but there are several varieties of the banyan, mango, bamboo, acacia, and other native trees extremely hardy, which grow very quickly, give considerable shade, and I should be very happy to see them extensively planted all over those parts of the city where the advantage of them would be felt.
The small plantation of fir-trees at the rear of the Albany Barracks, planted by myself in the year 1845, and which were then only one foot high, are now upwards of seven feet, and look very strong and healthy.
I have, &c.,
The Hon. Major W. Caine,
(Signed)
Colonial Secretary.
(True Copy)
Charles St. George Cleverly,
Surveyor-General.
W. CAINE, Colonial Secretary.
(No. 10.)
SIR,
Enclosure 2 in No. 39.
Surveyor-General's Office, Victoria, 12th February 1851.
I HAVE the honour to forward, for the information of his Excellency the Governor, my Annual Report upon the state and progress of the department for the year 1850.
For the whole of the above period the entire duties connected with the supervision of labour, both for work under contracts and that performed by the convicts, has devolved upon myself with the assistance of the Chinese overseer and Coolies. In consequence of the reduction in the department of the civil engineer and road overseer during the previous year, I adopted measures for arranging that the supervision of all works performed by the department should be undertaken by the Chinese overseer, to whom I gave the requisite instructions and a short detail of the contracts; and he, together with his Coolies, when necessary, were always stationed on the work, to see that the services were properly performed, and my directions to the workmen or contractor fully complied with. Thus the road round the island was regularly visited, its state of repair constantly reported, as well as the progress made with the few works of construction ordered on the Aberdeen and Stanley Road; also, when repairing and improving the road to North Point, the same service was performed. In addition to this, I directed the overseer and his men to take a general charge of the roads and streets, drains, &c., in the city, to execute contingent repairs in such places where it was not necessary to send the gang of convicts. By this arrangement, with the assistance of convict labour, I was enabled to keep the whole city in repair, without disbursing any money whatever, which I have never been able to effect in previous years.
The overseer was ordered to attend the office every day for instructions, and at the same time give a written report of the previous day's work; thus during the year 30 days' labour were occupied in grassing slopes, 15 days in surveying, 288 days clearing drains and side-channels, 488 days repairing and weeding roads and streets, and 102 days in attending to the trees on the roads; this, together with attendance upon me in the mornings and evenings, when their services were demanded to lay out ground for sale, define boundaries of lots, or other miscellaneous work, comprised the whole of their duties, which have been very satisfactorily performed; and I have to report most favourably of their general good conduct, and particularly so of their overseer, Assow, who is a most valuable assistant to me, and (for a Chinaman) a most deserving and exemplary man.
The expenditure on account of roads not in the city amounted to £3851. 2s. 1d., on account of bridges £1567. 1s. 11d., drains £417. 7s. 3d., marine works £164.
Buildings.
The construction and repair of buildings I took entirely under my individual supervision (the overseer only reporting the number of men at work thereon); these comprised the completion of the church tower, the fittings and furniture, &c., to the Court-house, sundry contingent