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lam inclined to think that a school at Waioeka, five miles from Opotiki, would be successful. It is true that most of the Natives in the district could, if they wished to do so, attend the Board school at Opotiki. Unfortunately they will not do this. lam afraid that a properly equipped Native school is the only available means for educating these Natives, and think that, if the results of the inquiries now being made should be favourable to my view of the matter, a school should be established here. The Natives of Tangitiroria, on the Northern Wairoa, have petitioned for a school. The population of the district is large, but scattered. I believe that a school at Tangitiroria would be fairlysuccessful at any rate. If the Natives of the district were as energetic as they are in some parts of New Zealand an excellent attendance might be secured there. Arrangements have not yet been completed for establishing a school on the Thames, but there can be little doubt that a small school at Kirikiri, a village some five miles from Grahamstown, would be successful. It is intended to discontinue the school at Lower Waihou, and, if prospects continue favourable, to establish one at Whakarapa, some five miles inland. A fever epidemic swept off a large number of the Natives at Waihou about three years ago, and there is reason to believe that the place is permanently unhealthy. Any way the population is now very small. Whakarapa is a permanent settlement; the Natives there have adopted European methods of farming, and hold generally what, from the European standpoint, must be considered as advanced views. The prospects of a permanently good attendance at Waitetuna are sufficiently encouraging to warrant the erection of school-buildings there. The Natives of Te Ore Ore, near Masterton, have established a school in their kainga. A subsidy is now paid to the teacher, and something has been done in the way of providing better accommodation for the children than is afforded by a small low whare, without floor, forms, desks, or material. The Natives here are very industrious and orderly. If the experiment that is now being made be successful, permanent buildings should undoubtedly be erected. Native Schools in euel Operation. It will be convenient to deal with the schools in groups, using their geographical position as the basis of classification. fifongonui. —ln this district there are five schoools. Three of these are very good indeed, especially those at Peria and Pukepoto. The Kaitaia school is equal to the others in many respects, but the attendance has hitherto been small and is sometimes very irregular. Ahipara has yet to make a good reputation for itself. There have been four teachers there within quite a short period. Two of these, on being removed to other districts, have got on capitally. It is to be hoped that the present teacher will succeed where the others have failed, and avoid getting into the " hot water" that seems to be characteristic of the place. The Awanui school also has a new master; Mr. E. Matthews, an old and valued native-school teacher having resigned. This is a difficult school also. With one or two exceptions the Natives here are very apathetic ; while at Ahipara the people seem to take too much interest in the teacher and his affairs, here they take too little. There is no valid reason why there should not be a good attendance at this school for a considerable part of the year. The gum fields are the principal difficulty with which the teachers in this district have to contend. Often children are away gumdigging for months together. Of course, when they come back, they are found to have forgotten a great deal of what they had previously learnt, and to be as wild as unbroken colts. Mr. George Kelly, Clerk of the Court at Mongonui, kindly acts as Superintendent of this district; he also takes charge of the school at Te Kao. Hokianga. —There are nine schools at present in operation on the shores of Hokianga Harbour and its inlets; these are superintended by S. Yon Stiirmer, Esq., R.M., who may be considered as the founder of most of them,.and who still takes great interest in their success. The most thoroughly successful schools here at present are those at Waitapu and Upper Waihou ; the first of these schools especially was in a very satisfactory condition when I last visited it. Whirinaki school is also good in many respects, but it had only fair success at the standard examination, liakau Para is about to be closed : this school has done excellent work in its time, but the number of Maoris in the neighbourhood of the school is now very small, and there is a European school within a short distance. The new schools at Motukaraka, Omanaia, Whangape, and the reopened school at Waima, give fair promise of permanent success. The gum-digging difficulty referred to in connection with the Mongonui schools ia experienced in this district also. Between Hokianga and Auckland. —The schools in this district are not so satisfactory as those further north, except Mangakahia, which, considering its isolated position, is very good : not one of them is as successful as it should be. The cause of the shortcoming is, in nearly every case, the apathy of the Natives. The best schools are those. at Mangakahia, Waikare, Matakohe, and especially that at Otamatea, whose only striking fault is a small attendance. Te Ngaere has a new master, who has very uphill work to do in order to make his school even moderately successful. Ohaeawai, very good in 1880, failed to maintain its position in 1881, the attendance having been extremely irregular. Paihia will probably have to be closed through the Natives having left the district. Poroti has improved considerably, but the attendance is still small, Ngunguru is maintaining only a precarious existence. The school at Pouto has been examined only once; I think it will do well. Taumarere Native Girls' Boarding-school is in this district: it is about two miles from Kawakawa, Bay of Islands. I am sorry to say that there is considerable difficulty in getting girls that have finished their village-school course to go to this school. Ido not know what the reason is, but the difficulty is so serious that it may possibly be necessary, if the school is continued, to find some other method of obtaining scholars for it than that which is theoretically, and should be practically, the best. In the meantime 1. would recommend that a somewhat longer trial be given to the present system. At the standard examination held here in September, 1881, the passes obtained were —Standard IV., 4 ; Standard 111., 2 ; Standard 11., 4; Standard 1., 4. These results are satisfactory. There are two Maori boarding-schools in Auckland : one of these is St. Mary's, Ponsouby. There are 5 Maori girls here ; of these, 1 passed in Standard 111.,