E—No. 4

The Second Class were learning their letters, and to put them together at the time, under Maka, their Minister.

Mr. Skinner teaches them to sing; and if perhaps a fastidious man might say the performance was not good, he could not help remarking that every child in the room knew the tune, and appeared to join in. The Food.—Mutton occasionally, fish, potatoes, flour, rice, and milk. Parents have ceased to help here as they formerly did. The Clothing, which is mostly made up on the station, consists of prints, calico, and dungaree ; some of the elder boys have blue shirts and moleskin trowsers ; the monitors shirts and browsers. Where the parents do not provide blankets the school does. One child had a cicatrix of some former scrofulous sore in the neck, but he, and all the rest, looked in perfect health, and clean. Mr. Skinner receives £8 13s. 4d. per head. The children were attentive and well behaved, though Mr. Skinner mentioned that, owing to the war, he had seen a spirit of insubordination he had not previously. W. HARSANT.

V.—REPORT BY HUGH CARLETON, Esq., ON NATIVE SCHOOLS IN AUCKLAND.

Auckland, April, 1862. In compliance with th*> terms of your letter of 23rd January last, in appointing me, with Messrs. Hunter Brown and Taylor, to inspect certain schools in the Province of Auckland, I have the honour to report as follows:— I have visited St. Mary's and St. Ann's schools, the Three Kings, and St. Stephens. It is unnecessary in this report to report the whole of the information which has been already conveyed to you by my coadjutors, in whose hands our examination papers have been placed. I follow the course pursued by me on a former occasion, when appointed to a similar duty in 1858, of makinoa separate report, in order to lay before you the general conclusions to which I have arrived concerning the system under which native education is conducted. In so doing, I request that this may be taken in conjunction with my former report, to the views contained in which, with some modifications suggested by further experience, I adhere. I shall, first, however, comply with your more special instructions, by giving an account, details omitted, of our proceedings in the performance of the duties assigned to us. It was agreed among ourselves, that no intimation of our intended visit should be given to any of the schools, but that they should be taken by surprise, with a view to enabling the Inspectors to observe their ordinary condition. St. Mary's. We proceeded first to the inspection of St. Mary's on the North Shore. At the College we found two gentlemen in holy orders, and a Maori boy. These gentlemen told us that the priest was away; that they had been there but a short time, and could give us no information. After some further explanation of our object, one of them offered to find the schoolmaster, Mr. Macdonald, and conducted us to the School-house, situated about a mile from the College. The School-house is a Maori building of two rooms, the inner one having a boarded floor. The furniture consists of one table, a bench, and a chair, with a map of the world. On enquiring for the books, we were told that the scholars had takeu them to their houses. We were informed by a Native that the scholars and the schoolmaster were at work in a wheat field not far distant, to which we proceeded. We saw two or three men at work in the field, and a woman. In the creek below were several Natives collecting pipis. Afttr awhile Mr. Macdonald joined us, and we returned with him to the School-house. We asked Mr. Macdonald, how many Natives were on the establishment? he told us about sixty. How many were on the estate that day ? about forty. He was requested to muster them at the College: meanwhile our enquiry was continued. It appeared that there were no fixed school hours; occasional attendance at the School-house in the morning, but none in the afternoon. We enquired for the dormitory, and were told that the Natives lived in their own whares. At a later period we saw a tolerably comfortable house for a half-caste family. No supervision appeared to be exercised in the Native houses. Among the answers to enquiries concerning meals at the College was the following :—" They are supposed to have breakfast at half-past eight." The impression left upon my mind is, that the greater number are not boarded at the College, but live entirely at their own whares. Among other questions and answers were these:—"Had you any school here this morning?" " I had." " How many were present ?" '• I cannot say exactly." " Were there a dozen ?" " Yes, there were more than a dozen." From the School-house we proceeded to the College. Sixteen had mustered. I regret to say that the result of the examination was not satisfactory. I may here observe that the examinations in all the schools were conducted on a system of marks, in the apportionment of which we all agreed. The teachers were also invited to observe what marks were given to each scholar, the Inspectors being desirous that the nature of their report should iv each case be anticipated by those in charge of the several schools. I requested Mr. Macdonald to produce the register of attendance of scholars, required by Sec. vi. of the Native Schools Act. He told me that it was in the room above, locked up in the priest's box. I asked, " how could the daily entries be made, in accordance with the regulations of the Governor ?"

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REPORTS OF INSPECTORS