NATIVE SCHOOLS.

A few of the men and women intoned the present tense of the auxiliary verb "To be," as " I am happy," " Thou art sad," &c. They also sang the Gamut in "do, ri, ma;" and in numbers, besides singing three verses of an English hymn. About eight women and girls, and as many men, read a little Maori, but not without difficulty, and somewhat imperfectly. They are taught the Sacred History from a Catechism compiled in Maori by Bishop Pompallier, for the purpose; and several of them intoned all together a series of answers to questions asked them out of that book. They are all taught to write. Twenty or thirty copybooks were produced. Some of the writing was pretty good. The remainder, we were informed, write on their slates. There are four Arithmetic Classes. The first and second, about eight in number, know sufficient of the " Rule of Three" to be able to calculate the value of their produce, kauri gum, &c. The third class, of ten, can do the simple rules of Arithmetic; and about twenty more intoned a portion of their Multiplication Table together, but some of them not without the assistance of the book, and very few knew it perfectly. In Geography, a few males and three girls knew the names of the great divisions of the Earth; and could point out and name on the map the countries of Europe, and the cardinal points of the compass. They have two, or two and a half hours of tuition, and prayers in the morning at the school, and the Teacher goes down to their settlement for the same length of time in the evening. The industrial occupations taught to them are fencing and ditching, and other simple agricultural operations. Their food is fish and potatoes, with flnur and rice during the seasons of hard labour ; but only those who res de at the school are regularly fed from thence. The different families have portions of the school land allotted to them, which they cultivate ; a certain portion of the produce is reserved for those living at the school, and the remaindet is for their own use. If insufficient, they are supplied with food from the school funds, in return for work done on the farm; and they have the use of a plough and team of bullocks. During the last season l.hey have grown ten or twelve acres of wheat, from twenty to twenty-five acres of potatoes, Indian corn, &c , and two or three acres of oats. In the ame period £75 was paid by the school for seed potatoes. Most of them have European clothing, but we noticed several of the more aged among them wearing the Native matting or the blanket. They have no regulated supply of clothing Irom the establishment, but they are induced to work at Is. a day occasionally, as may be arranged, and instead of being paid in money, they receive an order for clothes, to the amount earned, upon some Auckland tratler, which order they exchange for clothes, when visiting Auckland. They appeared clean and healthy. There were nine deaths during the last year, three adults and 6ix children, four of the latter dying out of oue family from disease supposed to be of a scrofulous nature. There is a large and well-built stone house of two stories, in good repair. The lower portion contains the Superintendent's quarters, a dining hall, &c. The upper story is a fine large schoolroom, with four small rooms off it, two of which are occupied by the teachers, one by the three resident scholars, and the other is used as a store-room. There is a good bakehouse with brick oven. A wooden building adjacent contains the kitchen and two other rooms, in one of which the two female scholars sleep. The main body of the students live in their Native whares, at distances of a mile or more from the school. They are there supplied with bedding, viz., blankets and mattresses, if they are distressed for such articles, and *sk for them. On visiting several of their whares, we noticed some sort of bedding in most of them, spread upon the ground. The blankets, with occasionally a coverlet or shawl, wete laid sometimes on a mattrass, sometimes on a little loose straw or a mat ; but, as we were not informed what number of persons inhabited each particular whare, we are unable to report how far the suppJy of bedding (where used at all) may be sufficient. The Director does what he can to induce them to sleep on bedding, but does not enfoice it. The whares were without flooring. We discovered no partitions to separate or screen the different ages or sexes from each other, but we noticed in one or two instances what might serve as a substitute for a bedstead. The interior of the whares is more than usually ventilated, neat, and cleanly, for Maori life ; and the number of pigs or poultry seen about them was small. The pupils who are in the College itself, cofte from a distance, and do not belong to the people who cultivate their allotments, and live in their whares, as above desciibed. There is a large raupo building at their settlement, with good doors, windows and a fire-place, which it is proposed to fit up as an evening school-room, or place for players. There are about 400 acres of land belonging to the estate, all of which is enclosed, except 80 or 90 acres. It is chiefly in glass, and is of variable quality. The best portions ot it are occupied by the Native settlements. Thete are ten or twelve head of cattle running on the land. The institution is under the direction of the Rev. J. L. Segala, who is assisted by two European teachers. There is also a Native Matron to superintend the females. Of their zeal and qualifications there can be no doubt, but »s the greater part of the scholars are living in Native fashion, with their families, at a distance fiom school, it must be very difficult to obtain a regular attendance of the students, and to enforce the necessary scholastic discipline. The school, therefore, can scarcely be considered to have attained a high degree of efficiency as a means of educating and civilisinc the Natives. b

Maori.

Writing. Arithmetic.

Geography,

Hours of instruction,

Industrial training.

Food.

Clothing.

Cleanliness and health.

School buildings.

The wliares, bedding fee

Lend.

Discipline, management and efficiency.

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