The Commissioners, acting under the above-recited instrument, have agreed to the following Report:—

In order to guarantee a full inquiry and impartial decision, founded solely upon a consideration of the advantages which the different sites in Cook Straits present for the administration of the Government of the whole colony, the Commissioners determined to lay down a principle of inquiry which would be rigidly applicable in the examination of every site submitted to their investigation. This principle comprised inquiries into—First. The central position of the site; its accessibility, either by land or sea, from the adjoining provinces of New Zealand, from the various British settlements in the Southern Hemisphere, and from Europe and America; and also the existing and projected means of communication. Second. The water capabilities, comprising: Character of harbour; the approaches; depth of water; nature of anchorage-ground; protection from prevailing winds; rise and fall of tides; currents, their direction and velocity; dangers, whether hidden or visible. Third. Land capabilities, comprising: The extent of proposed site; natural formation of the land; water-supply; facilities for drainage and sewerage; facilities for the construction of wharves and piers; the sanitary condition of the site and neighbourhood. Fourth. The resources of the surrounding country; its extent and character; quantity of available land (whether alienated or unalienated) for pastoral or agricultural pursuits; its timber for building purposes and fuel; other building materials; mineral products; roads and facilities of communication with proposed capital. Fifth. Capabilities of defence: from attack by land; from attack by sea. Sixth. Natural disadvantages: whether capable of removal from the appliances of science; whether beyond control or removal.

The Commissioners commenced their labours at Wellington, on the southern coast of the North Island. They collected all the information that could be laid before them on these several heads of inquiry, and tested the information, so obtained, by personal examination, wherever such a course was practicable. The Commissioners then proceeded along the South Coast to Whanganui, and personally examined the harbour and the surrounding country. The Commissioners then passed to the opposite shore of the Strait, and directed their attention to Picton, in the Province of Marlborough, and minutely examined Queen Charlotte Sound and the Tory Channel. They then proceeded inland to Blenheim, and (descending by the Wairau River) made a personal inspection of Port Underwood, represented to be the natural harbour of this district. They also examined the pastoral districts lying to the south and east of the Wairau Valley. Leaving Picton the Commissioners examined carefully the Pelorus Sound, to the Town of Havelock, in the same province, and from thence proceeded through the French Pass to Nelson. They made a personal inspection of Blind Bay, with its various harbours, including Croixelles on the east shore, and Massacre Bay and Astrolabe Roadstead upon the west, and visited portions of the interior of the country.

Having thus made themselves acquainted, as far as was practicable, with the character and capabilities of both shores of Cook Straits, the Commissioners have arrived at the unanimous conclusion that Wellington, in Port Nicholson, is the site upon the shores of Cook Straits which presents the greatest advantages for the administration of the Government of the colony.

The Commissioners cannot conclude the important mission which has been intrusted to them without recording their high sense of the valuable assistance afforded to them, in pursuing their investigation, by the authorities of the various provinces, and also of the spirit of candour and impartiality which has been displayed by the gentlemen furnishing the information they required. They are desirous also of placing on record their acknowledgment of the courtesy and personal kindness received by them in every district which they visited.