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the more trying because before the outbreak of fever, which necessitated the closing of tiie school, a large proportion of his pupils were well advanced in English. Mr. Reeves takes a great deal ofjtrouble to provide rational amusement for the elder Natives, and often employs the children to assist him. lam glad to know that there are others besides him engaged in these schools, whose estimate of their duty is not confined to the bare terms of tluir agreement to teach for certain hours on certain days. After the examination, several of the Natives present expressed their satisfaction with the school, and the proceedings were brought to a close by the Rev. G. P. Mutu moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Reeves, which was carried unanimously. JVakapualca School : Master, Mr. E. Jennings.—School inspected 15th April, 1878. Registers carefully kept. Highest number on the books : Boys, 7 ; girls, 2 : total, 9. Present at inspection, 9. Reading: Ist Class: Number in class, 6. Book, 4th Royal Reader. Pour good, two fair. Spelling fair. Pronunciation imperfect. Meaning of lesson understood. Dictation, three fair, three imperfect. Writing on slates, good. —2nd Class: Number iv Class, 2. Book, Royal Reader No. 1. Two imperfect. Spelling, one fair, one imperfect. Pronunciation defective. —3rd Class : One learning alphabet. Arithmetic : Simple proportion, two good, two fair. Figures well made ; working on slate neat. Compound multiplication, two fair. Simple division, one fair. Simple addition, one fair. Tables and Weights and Measures: Six good, two imperfect. Writing: Copybooks. Two good, four fair, two imperfect. Books were clean. Geography : Six could name and point out the principal mountains, rivers, lakes, towns, «fee, of New Zealand, and the principal countries iv Europe. History: Most of the children had a fair acquaintance with English history, from the Roman conquest to the reign of Henry VII., giving with readiness the principal events which occurred during that period, together with the dates. Recitations: One recited fairly a piece of poetry. Drill: Regularly drilled. Mr. Commissioner Mackay and the Rev. T. S. Grace kindly accompanied me to Wakapuaka. I was sorry to find, on my arrival there, that the numbers were so diminished, and still more so to learn that it was owing to dissensions amongst the little community of Natives who occupy this beautiful spot. One of the persons who withdrew his children has given up his intention of retiring to Taranaki, and will, I hope, soon send his children again. It is very disheartening to those who have takensurh pains to make this school efficient, to find their efforts frustrated by the very persons for whose benefit they have exerted themselves. 1 hope Mr. Jennings will continue to work on iv spite of discouragements, for the good of the few who valuo and appreciate his services. Waikawa Sc/iool: Master, Mr. Lowis, assisted by Miss Lewis. —Opened. August, 1877. Inspected, April 17th, 1878. Registers carefully kept. Highest number on the roll: Boys, 17; girls, 11: total, 28. Present at inspection: Boys, 15; girls, 11: total, 26. Reading: Ist Class: Number in class, 3. Book, 3rd Irish Series. One good, two fair. Book rather too difficult. Meaning text understood. Spelling fair.—2nd Class : Number in class, 3. Book, 2nd National Series. Three fair. Spelling confined to words of one syllable. —3rd Class : Number in class, 8. Book, Sequel to Step-by-step. All read words of one syllable, but not: fluently. Did not understand meaning. Dictation : The Ist, 2nd, and 3rd Classes wrote down sentences dictated from their reading-lessons. While the writing was good, the spelling was imperfect. I would strongly recommend that this school be supplied at once with the Royal Reader Series, Ist to 'Ith, as it is very difficult to classify the attainments of children who are reading books arranged upon different methods. Arithmetic: Compound subtraction, one good. Compound addition, one good, one fair. Simple multiplication, two fair, one imperfect. Simple subtraction, three fair, two imperfect. Very easy addition, three fair, two imperfect. Figures well made and neatly set down, and a fair proportion of the sums worked correctly. Writing : Copybooks. Eight fair, six just commencing. Geography: Mr. Lewis thinks that the children do not know enough English to learn geography. But I think he would find, like all others who have tried the experiment, that the geography lesson is one of the best for imparting a knowledge of English. It enlarges the ideas of the children, is always interesting, and affords them some relief from the monotonous reading lessons. Singing : Miss Lewis devotes some time every week to this subject, but the want of a proper manual is a great hindrance to success. Drill : Ten of the biggest boys went through their drill exercise with great precision. They marched better than any I have seen elsewhere. 2nd Division: Taught by Bliss Lewis.—Reading : Ist Class : Number in class, G. All could read monosyllables fairly; understood meaning of the words. All could make letters and figures on their •slates. 2nd Class: Number in class, 7. Knew the alphabet. Both this and the Ist Class were practised by Miss Lewis in mental arithmetic in addition up to 100, and could work easy addition sums set down on the black-board. Considering that this school has only been open for seven months, the progress made is very satisfactory. One curious fact was noticeable hero and in the other schools in the northern part of this Island"—namely, the difficulty the children seem to have in pronouncing English well. With Ngaitahu " th," " ph," aud "s " are no longer stumbling-blocks, but here the teacher's old enemies are in full force. Another difficulty arises from the rather defiant ftir that the children assume. I imagine that both these difficulties are to be traced to the constant intercourse that exists between the disaffected Taranaki Natives and those living about Cook Strait. The manners of the Maoris in this neighbourhood are very disagreeable, and they evidently do not 2—G. 7.