E.—2

8

improvement have done away with nearly all real ground for complaint. The most considerable of the still-existent sanitary troubles is that connected with the cubic space in the dormitories; but great care is taken to keep up a constant supply of fresh air, and visits paid to the sleepingrooms, whether full or empty, never result in their, being found "stuffy" through the presence of accumulated bad air. Moreover, the number of pupils has now been more strictly limited in order to relieve to a large extent the pressure on the dormitory space. It is to be regretted that this measure has had to be adopted, seeing that the number of Maori boys available for enrolment as pupils is much larger than the number in actual attendance, and it is not easy to see how funds for providing extra accommodation are to be provided. There are some other sanitary matters of smaller importance that have lately received or are now receiving attention. It is worth noting in connection with Te Aute that about one-third of the residents at the college (including the staff of teachers, the servants, and the European foundation-pupils) are not Maoris ; and that there has never been any death among these Europeans, and hardly any case of serious illness. Hence it appears likely that such disease as there has been amongst the Maoris at Te Aute has not been due to local conditions, but rather to some peculiar constitutional weakness of the Maori boys. It may be, however, that Europeans are able to overcome local conditions, such as deficient cubic space, that would be dangerous or even fatal to delicate Maoris. But, again, very strong special evidence would be needed to make, this explanation acceptable, when we know that many Europeans suffer quite as quickly as Maoris from the evil influence of foul air, bad water, or other insanitary conditions. At the examination fifty-four boys were present. A word or two may be said about each of the divisions. Very good work was done by Classes I. and II.; year by year the work of this lower part of the school grows stronger. This fact points to improvement in method—the method, in the main, of giving young Maoris their first introduction to a foreign language. The next division consists of Glasses 111. and IV. Here we find some boys that have been promoted from the lower part of the school, and some that have come from outside schools. They are on the whole satisfactory, but they have not as yet completely received the peculiar Te Aute impress. The Senior Fourth is a specially interesting class; it consists of young fellows pretty well advanced in all the ordinary subjects except English : to this very special attention is being directed, and with capital effect. The Glass V. boys are well advanced; the character of their work may be learnt from the fact that they gained an average of over 73 per cent, of the marks allowed for papers that were for the most part more than usually difficult. Class VI. gave an excellent result throughout. Besides these divisions there was the matriculation class, the members of which were at Napier attending the annual examination. Carpentering is still taught here with beneficial results, and the boys still have their own gardens; also, due attention is paid to the extra subjects—singing, drawing, and drill. It may be added that the Te Aute boys and their teachers are looked upon in the surrounding districts as very formidable antagonists at cricket and football; their prowess as football players has been shown even in Wellington and Canterbury. Native Boys' Boarding-school, St. Stephen's, Parnell, Auektand. —The school was inspected on the 12th February. Forty Maori boys were present; they all seemed to be in good health, and to be doing satisfactory work in school and out of it. The technical work (carpentering) is carried on systematically, but apparently insurmountable difficulties stand in the way of getting this kind of work done by any large number of the scholars. The reason is that if real work is to be accomplished the workers must be under close and constant supervision: it appears that the more you increase the number of your carpenter scholars the greater is the chance that none of them will gain much benefit from the instruction. It is gratifying to find, too, that all Government scholars receive sufficient instruction in gardening to enable them to grow crops of turnips, cabbages, onions, &c, without making mistakes. Training of this kind is evidently highly beneficial to young Maoris. The examination took place on the 29th April. Fifty-nine boys were present ; out of these only forty-four were qualified by length of attendance for examination at St. Stephen's. Of these, four finished their school course by passing the final examination, and eight succeeded in passing the lower examination in the first year's work of the seniors. There were only two failures for these higher examinations. In the ordinary standard - work some weakness was shown in English and in spelling; all the rest of the work was good. One (European) passed Standard V., three passed Standard IV., four passed Standard 111., six passed Standard 11,, and six passed Standard I. Inexcusable failures were very few. Excellent work was shown in singing, drawing, and drill. Many of the boys are really accomplished gymnasts. Not the least pleasing feature of this institution is the appearance of the schoolrooms, which is highly satisfactory. St. Joseph's, Napier (Soman Catholic), Native Girls' School. —This school was visited twice in the course of the year 1895, once on the 7th February for inspection, and again on the 11th December for examination. Twenty-three Government and nine private pupils were examined. Of the eleven senior girls, four passed the second-year examination (one very well), five passed the first-year examination (one very well), and two were not yet due. Of the juniors, two passed Standard IV., seven passed Standard 111., seven passed Standard 11., and four passed Standard I. The remaining four were " preparatories," and these all showed satisfactory advancement in the elementary subjects. It may be said, therefore, that there was no failure. One case of copying was noticed, but generally the tone is very good. Relations between pupils and teachers are unexceptionable. All the extras —singing, drawing, drill, and needlework—are very well taught; for instance, the elder girls sang an " unseen " strain of twelve bars of fairly-difficult musio very creditably. The examination work, so far as it went, was really admirable, and only one suggestion appeared to be needed. Some years ago it was found that, while the written work of the St. Joseph's girls was neat and accurate, there was a general lack of life and vigour in what they did. Oral examination was therefore substituted almost entirely for written. The effect has been highly