appointed and paid by the governors. Saturday is a whole holiday; on other week days school is held, for boys from 9:15 to 12:15 and from 1:45 to 3:45; for girls morning school begins and ends five minutes later, afternoon school five minutes earlier. Classification.-One classification serves for all subjects except mathematics, for which the pupils are redistributed. The classes on the girls' side are approximately parallel to those on the boys' side.

Age of pupils.-The ages of the pupils range from 8 to 19 years. Sometimes the latter limit is reached, but by far the larger number of pupils neither enter at or near the lower age nor stay until they approach the higher.

Numbers. Like almost all colonial schools this school has been subject to great fluctuations in number. Shortly before Mr. Macrae ceased to be head master there were 240 boys, but the present head master found only 166. At the end of 1882 the number was the same; then it rose in a year and a half to 303, with 28 at a suburban preparatory school. A period of commercial depression ensued, and the number fell. In 1889 it was 137. Before that time, however, the girls' side had been opened. Starting with 76 pupils, it had steadily grown. The numbers at present (September, 1892) are boys, 145; girls, 131.

Staff.-There are at present on the regular staff 7 assistant masters and 3 mistresses working whole time, 1 master and 1 mistress working part time. All the assistant masters, except those for drawing and French, are graduates-1 of Oxford, 1 of Cambridge, 2 of New Zealand, 1 of Sydney, 1 of Melbourne; 1 of the mistresses is a graduate of New Zealand. For gymnastics and for the drawing classes on the girls' side visiting instructors attend.

Scholarships, etc.—The board of governors offers annually out of endowment three junior and three senior foundation scholarships. The former conferring free education, and, when necessary, cost of transit by rail in the first instance for one year, but with the prospect of renewal from year to year, so long as the board is satisfied that the scholar is deserving, are open to boys and girls under the age of 13 years. The latter conferring free education for one year and £20 are so arranged as to carry on boys and girls, who, having obtained distinction in the examination for the junior scholarships of the New Zealand University, and being young enough to compete again, desire to do so. The board also offers free education to the four candidates in each year who come next to the successful competitors for the board of education's junior district scholarships, and also to the four who take a like position in the examination for the senior district scholarships. These district scholarships, of which the junior, worth £20 or £30 per annum for three years, are open to boys and girls from primary schools under the age of 14 years; and the senior, worth £30 per annum also for three years, to boys and girls under the age of 16 years at the time of election, may be, and in most cases are, held in this school. Those already attending it can not, of course, compete for the junior scholarships, but are eligible for the senior, and, indeed, carry off most of them. Thus a boy or girl may obtain assistance all through his or her career at this school until the time comes for competing for a university scholarship. A local benefaction (the Rawling's trust) provides fees, books, and £5 per annum for four years for, at present, nine years.

There are at present 45 boys and 23 girls enjoying scholarships or free education in the school.

In the examination for junior university scholarships, the civil service, and other open examinations, this school has for many years past been very successful.

The work may be gathered from the highest class work, and the lowest class work, which is as follows:

BOYS.

Highest.-Latin, French, English, mathematics, chemistry, electricity, as for junior university scholarships.

Lowest.-Reading: Longman's Fourth Reader, the whole; repetition from Auch

muty's Poems of English Heroism. Grammar: Davidson and Alcock's Intermediate, pp. 1 to 40. History: Blackwood's First Reader, the whole. Geography: Blackwood's First Reader, the whole. Object lessons.

GIRLS.

Highest.-The same as boys, except that heat is substituted for electricity. Lowest.--Reading: Longman's Fourth Reader, the whole; repetition, passages from the reader. Grammar: Davidson and Alcock's Intermediate; noun, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, analysis, parsing. History: Blackwood's First Reader, the whole. Geography: Blackwood's Third Reader, the whole; outlines of New Zealand geography.

Scholarships were held at the school during the last quarter of 1890 as follows:

College scholarships.-Senior foundation (£20 and free education), 1 boy, 1 girl; Junior foundation (free education), 9 boys, 2 girls; under education board's certificate of proficiency (free education), 5 boys, 5 girls; children of members of staff, 4 boys, 4 girls. The college also gave free education to some holders of education board scholarships.

Education board scholarships.-At £45, 2 girls; at £40, 6 boys; at £30, 7 boys, 1 girl; at £25, 5 boys, 3 girls; at £20, 9 boys, 7 girls.

Rawlings scholarships (free education and books).-Nine boys.

The success of the school in the university examinations for 1890–91 was as follows:

In the examination for university junior scholarships held in December, 1890, pupils of this school obtained scholarships, viz, 2 male and 1 female; 6 passed with credit, viz, 4 male and 2 female. For matriculation, 9 passed, viz, 5 male and 4 female. In the examination for senior district scholarships, held by the Auckland board of education in December, 1890, scholarships were awarded to 7 pupils of this school, viz, 3 male and 4 female; and certificates of proficiency to 8 pupils, viz, 6 male and 2 female. At the civil service examinations held in January, 1891, in the senior examination 3 pupils of the school passed, viz, 2 male and 1 female; and 3 boys obtained partial passes. In the junior examination 10 pupils of the school passed, viz, 7 male and 3 female.

The school meets in rather a commodious building.

OTHER SCHOOLS IN THE AUCKLAND DISTRICT.

There is at the Thames, distant from Auckland 45 miles, a boys' and girls' high school. It is managed as follows:

A board of governors is appointed and is constituted a body corporate by the name of the Thames high school board.

The board consisted first of 7 persons nominated by the governor, but no member could hold office longer than a year, a retiring member being eligible for reëlection or renomination.

After the expiration of the first year the governor appointed three members; the Thames borough council appointed three other members, and the mayor for the time being of the borough of Thames was the other member.

The revenue received from reserves and gold fields last year amounted to £719 15s. 10d. The work of the highest class was that of the junior

university scholarship examination. Free education was granted to 27 scholars. There is no boarding establishment connected with either school. The pupils on the roll were: boys 29, girls 27.

There was also established in the city of Auckland a Church of England grammar school. It was founded by Bishop Selwyn in 1855. Little work, however, has been recently done by it. The grants given to the Roman Catholic Church have also not been utilized for higher education. The Wesleyan College at the Three Kings was once a high school, but it has become practically an English and Maori theological college for the Wesleyan ministry.

There is a high school situated at Whangarei, which lies in a fine harbor, 80 miles north of Auckland, and is becoming the seat of fruit culture. Oranges, lemons, and other subtropical fruits grow magnificently. It is managed by a board appointed as follows:

The board consists of 7 persons, 1 of whom is the chairman of the county council for the time being; 2 are appointed from time to time by the governors of the Auckland College and Grammar School; 2 are nominated and appointed from time to time by the governor, and 2 are elected annually by the board of education for the Auckland provincial district.

The only other high school in the Auckland provincial district is at Gisborne, but it is not in operation except so far as higher classes are taught in connection with the elementary school, which is subsidized by the high school governors.

NEW PLYMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL.

In the Taranaki provincial district, which lies on the west coast of the north island south of Auckland district, there is a high school at New Plymouth, the buildings overlooking the town and standing in a very healthy and commanding position. This school is under the management of a board and the re were 43 pupils attending it last year. The work done by the highest and lowest classes was as follows:

Highest.-Cæsar, Books I and III, Principia, part 1, the whole, grammar included. French: Hachette's Third Reader, and De Fivas's Grammaire des Grammaires. Algebra: Todhunter, to quadratics. Arithmetic: The subject generally, and mental. Euclid, Books, I, II, and III, to proposition 24. History: Collier, the whole, special stress on the period James I to Victoria. Geography: Chisholm, introduction and Australasian colonies, and general topographical geography from maps. Grammar: Smith and Hall; analysis, parsing, prefixes, and suffixes. Science: Harrison's Elementary Mechanics, and lessons on light, heat, and sound. Reading: Merchant of Venice; Henry IV, parts I and II; Romeo and Juliet, and Tempest. Lowest.-Latin: Principia, part 1, exercises 1 to 6, and grammar. French: De Jardin, exercises 1 to 20, and auxiliary verbs. Algebra: Todhunter, to end of multiplication. Arithmetic: Compound rules, greatest common divisor, least common multiple, fractions, and mental. Euclid: None. History: Britons to end of Plantagenets. Geography: Great Britain and Ireland, Asia, and North America generally, and chief physical features of the world. Grammar: Morrison, etymology up to the verb. Science: General properties of matter, solids and liquids, effects of heat, etc. Reading: Fourth Reader.

1

Drawing.-Boys, geometrical; girls, flat and model.

Dictation in all classes. Writing in all classes except seniors. Sewing for the girls. Drill, boys and girls.

The school gave free education to 7 scholars. The mode of appointing the governors is as follows: The governor appoints 7 persons to constitute the board. Two of the members of the board retired from office at the end of the first year after appointment, two other members retired at the end of the second year, and the three remaining members at the end of the third year. The names of the members to retire were determined by the board by lot. The vacancies thus created were filled by the governor, and the members so appointed hold office for three years, and in like manner thereafter appointments to be made as vacancies occur.

The sum of £418, 158. 1d. was received from rents of endowments, and £165, 188. 1d. from other sources.

THE NAPIER HIGH SCHOOL.

In Napier, the chief town of Hawkes Bay provincial district, lying on the east coast of the north island and south of Auckland, there are two high schools, a boys' high school and a girl's high school. These schools are managed by one board, incorporated in 1882. The board is composed of 2 members elected by the education board, 2 by the municipal council of the city of Napier, 2 by the Hawkes Bay County council, 2 by the Waipawa County council, 1 by the Wairoa County council, and one appointed by the governor. These counties are all situated in the Hawkes Bay provincial district. The following is a short sketch of the schools, which the secretary of the board has kindly furnished:

The origin and history of the Napier high schools have an intimate connection with the early days of the province of Hawkes Bay. When the government sold the lands on which the town of Napier now stands, in the year 1856, a number of settlers combined and purchased sections 136 and 137 at the upset price of £5 for each section and built a school upon them at a cost of over £200. The purchasers vested the lands and school in three trustees, who were to hold them for the purposes of education for all future time. In 1863 a fire broke out in the town of Napier and destroyed the school. It was now evident to the trustees that the sections were too valuable and, in some ways, unsuitable for the purpose of a school, being in the very center of the business portion of the town. Hence they resolved on leasing the sections and providing for the school elsewhere. Various conflicting causes prevented the trustees from building a new school, and, with the consent of those who purchased the lands, an application was made to the supreme court in the year 1872 to sanction an arrangement for the administration of the rents arising out of the sections. The supreme court gave its sanction to a scheme by which twothirds of the accumulated funds and the rents should be applied to the support of a girls' and a boys' public school, under the Hawkes Bay education act, and one-third to be invested for the purpose of a grammar school, and vested the land in a body of trustees for these purposes. Under this decree a public school for boys was erected on suburban section 90, sold to the trustees by the provincial council of Hawkes Bay for a nominal sum for this purpose, and the existing school for girls in Tennyson street was taken over by the trustees and greatly enlarged and equipped for the

purpose. This arrangement continued till the education act of New Zealand came into force in the year 1877, which completely upset all its provisions. A bill was prepared and laid before parliament in the year 1882, providing for a high school under a popular basis of elected governors by various public bodies. It provided that the public school occupied by the boys should be made a boys' high school, that a site on another portion of suburban section 90 should be set apart for a girls' high school, and that certain landsalong with sections 136 and 137 in the town of Napier should be set apart for an endowment. The bill obtained the sanction of parliament and was at once put into force. A considerable portion of the endowment had to be sold to provide the buildings. Very shortly after the governors came into possession of the property, the leases of the sections 136 and. 137 expired and were again relet by public auction at an annual rental of £745. This constitutes for the future the chief portion of the endowment. The schools are now in vigorous operation under qualified teachers.

The subjects taught are as follows:

WORK OF THE HIGHEST AND LOWEST CLASSES.

Boys.

Highest.-Mathematics: Books I to III, with deductions and exercises; algebra to quadratics; elementary trigonometry and mechanics; general arithmetic. Latin: Cicero de Senectute, Virgil's Eneid, 1; selected sentences from prose composition; grammar. Natural science: Physiology. French: Molière's L'Avare; composition; selected roadings; grammar. English: Composition and Morris's Historical Grammar. Geography: Physical and general. History of England, 1688 to 1857. Class singing and drawing.

Lowest.-Equal to the third standard of the elementary code of the education de

partment.

Girls.

Highest.-Arithmetic: Percentages, stocks, general rules. Algebra: Quadratics, surds, ratio, and proportion. Geometry: Euclid, books I, II, III. English grammar: Meiklejohn's and Morris's Historical English Grammar. English literature: Victorian era; Milton's Comus. English history: 1688 to 1837. Geography: General and physical; Geikie's Lessons, 1 to 25. Modern history: Louis XIV to French Revolution. French: Macmillan's Third French Course; Molière, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme; Dumas, Tulipe Noire, 1 to 26. German: Macmillan's First German Course, Otto's Reader. Latin: Principia Latina, Iv; Virgil, Eneid, I, II, 1-500; Cæsar, 1. Chemistry: Nonmetallic elements, chemical equations. Physiology: Structure of body, functions of organs, laws of health. Drawing: Free-hand, geometrical, and model. Singing: Tonic sol-fa system. Trigonometry: To solution of triangles.

Lowest.-Arithmetic: Compound rules, reduction, mental. English grammar: Parts of speech, analysis of simple sentences. History: Richard III to Charles II. Geography: Countries of Europe, England. Physical geography: Springs, icebergs, seas, currents. French: Bue's First French Course, lessons 1 to 26. Object-lesson: Light, heat, color. Reading: Macmillan, III. Drawing, freehand.

The school gave free education to 24 holders of scholarships, given by the school commissioners and 8 scholars of the education board. The numbers on the roll in 1891 were: boys, 66; girls, 53. The income from reserves and property and from interest on moneys invested and on unpaid purchase money and the amount received from school commissioners, being part of general grants, amounted to £1,266 128. 6d.