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as having satisfactorily completed her course until she can cut out and make undergarments and dresses for herself, as well as clothes for infants and young children. In a similar way emphasis should be laid upon home nursing and the care of the sick and of infants. Already in ambulance work generally excellent results are being obtained. One cannot help being impressed when visiting any of the secondary schools with the splendid appearance of the pupils, who are, on the whole, of striking physique, well-mannered, courteous, and obedient. The Sukarere School buildings, which have served girls of the Maori race for upwards of thirty years, were destroyed by fire towards the end of the year. It speaks well for the discipline of the school that the girls, numbering sixty-three in all, were got out of the burning building in a few minutes without accident of any kind. The authorities have Inst m> time in taking the necessary steps to provide new buildings, pending the erection of which the school is to l>e carried on in temporary premises. SCHOLAKSHIHS, ETC. The number of scholarships or free places open to Maori children was 144, of which 134 were held at the end of the year by scholars from Native-village schools, and three by scholars from various public schools. There were eight industrial scholarships or apprenticeships current, and one agricultural scholarship. In connection with the industrial scholarships the thanks of the Department arc again due io the headmaster of St. Stephen's School, Auckland, for his active co-operation in securing suitable positions for apprentices. As far as information on the subject is available, the holders of these scholarships are giving every satisfaction to their employers, and in the case of one who completed Ins apprenticeship last year the Department received a capital report from his master. Towards the end of the year the first agricultural scholarship was awarded, and we have now a Maori boy apprenticed in a sheep-farmer Nursing Scholarships. — The need for the training of Maori girls as nurses is readily recognized by every one; but the difficulties that seem to beset every step when an attempt is made to arrange for such training to l>e given are known only to those who have for some years past been directly concerned with the Boheme. The hospital authorities —with one or two notable exceptions, of which the Napier Hospital Trustees are the most prominent—find many objections, and some of them even in districts with a fairly large Maori population decline to give any support whatever to the project. We diesire to express our cordial appreciation of the valuable assistance rendered during the year by the Hospitals Department, without whose co-operation it would have been almost impossible to carry the scheme to a successful issue. During 1910 there were five Maori girls being trained as nurses in various hospitals, one being a day pupil and four being probationers. It is not possible to award more nursing scholarships at the present time, for the reason that there are no vacancies in any of the hospitals willing to admit Maori girls. Nurse Akenehi Hei, who was the Hist Maori girl to pass the examination qualifying her for registration as a nurse, and who hail also obtained a certificate in midwifery, died during the year from typhoid fever contracted in the performance of her duty. Nurse Hei was a woman of fine character, devoted to the mission to which she had dedicated herself, and, there being so few qualified nurses available for work amongst the Maori people, while the need is so great, the loss sustained by the Department in this branch of its efforts on their behalf amounts to nothing short of a calamity. Te Makdfini Scholarships. —The examination for the Te Makarini Scholarships was held on the sth and 6th December, 1910. For the senior scholarship there were eleven candidates— five from St. Stephen's School, Auckland, and six from Te Aute College. For the junior scholarship there were seven candidates, all of whom were pupils of various Native village schools. Since last examination the standard of the examination for the senior scholarship has been raised to Standard VI of the public-schools code, while the age-limit in the case of junior candidates has been lowered to fourteen years. Though the tendency of these changes has been to make higher demands, we consider that the work of the senior candidates was very satisfactory indeed. With regard to the reading, one of the supervisors—a gentleman well qualified by reason of his long connection with education to speak with authority —reported, "I am much struck with the intelligence and demeanour of the candidates. Their reading was marvellously good—superior to what is commonly heard in the pakeha schools." The arithmetic showed much improvement in quality, and we desire to make mention of the admirable way in which the work was arranged. In Maori the faults observed l>efore still obtain: pakeha-Maori constructions and words are still frequent, and the knowledge of the structure of the language is very small. The best of the junior candidates did fairly well, considering that they had had no special .preparation, and that the lowering of the ago had raised the standard. Their weakest subject wan English composition, in which only low marks were obtained. The senior scholarship was awarded to Tipi Tainui Ropiha, of Te Ante College, who obtained 67 per cent, of the possible marks; and the junior scholarships were gained by Hewiri Makiha, of Whakarewarewa Native School, and Jesse Robson, of Pukepoto Native School, who gained 61 and (iO per cent, respectively. Butter Scholarship. —The Buller Scholarship was founded out of a bequest by the late Sir Walter Buller. It is open to Maori boys only, and not to half-castes or Europeans, the standard of education being fixed somewhat higher than that for the Te Makarini Scholarships. At the request of the trustees, regulations in connection with this scholarship were drawn up by the Department, and these were printed as an appendix to the regulations relating to Native schools. The first examination was held at the end of the year, there being eight candidates—four from Te Aute College, Hawke's Bay, and four from St. Stephen's School, Auckland. The work of the can-