sq.; W. B. Howell, esq.; W. Priest, esq.; D. M. Ross, esq.; W. M. Sims, esq.; J. W. Ziesler, esq.

Secretary.-Maj. Bamfield.

Head master.-George Hogben, M. A. (mathematical honors), formerly scholar and prizeman, St. Catherine's College, Cambridge; gold medallist, Royal Geographical Society; formerly mathematical and science master, boys' high school, Christchurch; tate inspector of schools, North Canterbury, New Zealand.

Assistant Staff.-A. J. Mayne, M. A. (honors Latin and English), formerly junior scholar, University of New Zealand; J. H. Smith, M. A. (honors Latin and Greek), junior and senior scholar, University of New Zealand; M. H. Brown, intermediate M. B. (University of London); Miss M. J. McLean, M. A., honors (Latin and English); Mrs. Pearson (Cert. Victoria). Music, Drill and Gymnastics, Sergt. Maj.

Jones. Carpentry, R. Thyne.

The boys' and girls' schools are quite separate; though for the sake of convenience pupils of the highest class are taught in the same room.

The school curriculum admits of considerable choice of subjects, and parents are invited to consult with the head master as to the subjects pupils should take up. The school has, besides the usual playgrounds, a gymnasium, a fives court, tennis courts, carpenter's workshop, and a museum.

The fees are: Senior, £4 6s. 8d. per term; juniors, £3 138. 4d. per term. These are payable at the secretary's office, in advance. If paid within fourteen days from commencement of the term a reduction of £1 per term is made.

In the case of more than two from the same family, a further reduction of £1 per pupil is made for each pupil after the first two.

Boys are received as boarders by the head master; fees for board, £13 per term, payable in advance. Arrangements can be made for weekly or day boarders.

Parents who wish to send girls as boarders are requested to communicate with the head master, who will assist them in making suitable arrangements.

Exhibitions.-The Cain exhibition (£10 for one year) is awarded to that boy or girl who stands highest in the annual school examination and declares his or her intention of competing for a junior scholarship of the University of New Zealand. The governors give free education to holders of education board scholarships. The special features of the teaching in the school are as follows:

(1) In the teaching of languages, grammar and composition are subordinated at first to the translation and comprehension of the language; the grammar is gradually built up from examples occurring in the translation, and composition is taught, not by isolated sentences, but by variation and imitation of the translation.

(2) In mathematics, and especially in geometry, as much use as possible is made of the concrete, by means of models, etc.; in trigonometry the school grounds and neighborhood are actually surveyed.

(3) All science is taught by means of experiment, the experiments and observations being made by each pupil individually or by pairs. In mechanics and physics generally as much quantative work as possible is done. The school possesses good sets of apparatus for this purpose, as well as good physiological models, specimens of natural history and mineralogy, and a good microscope.

(4) The pupils are all expected to go through a complete course of drawing. (5) The technical work (carpentry for the seniors, Sloyd carpentry and Sloyd cardboard models for the juniors) is made to fit in with the rest of work, e. g., draw. ing, mensuration, and applied mechanics.

The work of the highest classes reaches the standard of the junior scholarship examination of the University of New Zealand, for which this year there are 5 candidates from the school. Last year 8 candidates passed the New Zealand University matriculation examination, 2 of them taking the junior scholarship examination. Five pupils are entering the engineering department of Canterbury College at the beginning of the next session.

In regard to physical training, both girls and boys receive formal gymnastic training from an instructor. The girls also have daily calisthenic exercises (Swedish and French drill). There is a cadet corps numbering 42. The boys also have senior and junior cricket and football clubs. Annual athletic sports and fives tournaments are held. The girls have a games club for tennis and other games, and hold one or two tournaments in each year.

WAITAKI HIGH SCHOOLS.

The Waitaki High School was incorporated in 1878. Its income from reserves amounts to £1,211, 4s. 9d. There are under its management a high school for boys and a high school for girls. The boys' high school is situated 2 miles north from Oamaru-the White City of New Zealand-so called because its buildings are of a white limestone, and the girls' high school is in the center of the town. This town is the center of a very rich agricultural district, and has a harbor constructed at considerable expense. The town is situated on the coast in the northern part of Otago, and it is beautifully laid out and is exceedingly healthy. There is a boarding establishment connected with each school. The work of the highest and lowest classes in both schools is as follows:

BOYS.

Highest.-Latin: Cæsar, Books 1 and 11; Livy, Hannibalian War; Horace, Odes, Book III; Smith's Principia, Part II; Bradley's Arnold, all; Bryan's Latin Prose. Mathematics: Arithmetic, all; algebra, Hamblin Smith's to quadratic equations; Euclid, Books I to VI; trigonometry (Todhunter). English: Morris's Historical Outlines of Grammar; Bain's Higher English Grammar; Macmillan's Sixth Reader; Hewitt's Manual of our Mother Tongue. Geography: Longman's Australasian Geography. History: Buckley's English History. Science: Hooker's Botany. Drawing: Freehand, with perspective and machine (two hours weekly). French: Molière's Misanthrope, Les Precieuses Ridicules; Macmillan's Second Reader; Chardenal's Third Course.

Mathematics:

Lowest.-Via Latina, Exercises 1 to 30; Public School Latin Primer. Arithmetic to interest; algebra to division. French: Chardenal's First Course. Drawing: Freehand, (one hour daily). Science: Paul Bert's Introduction. English: Mann's English Grammar; Nelson's Poetry Reader. Geography: Petrie's Geography with maps. History: Gardiner's English History.

GIRLS.

Highest-English: Mason's Grammar, pages 73, 126, 141, 171; parsing and analysis, Julius Cæsar, Tennyson's Shorter Poems, essays, paraphrasing, composition notes. Advanced (scholarship) work: Above class work, and, in addition, Morris's Grammar (selections), Brooke's Primer of English Literature, Pope's Essay on Criticism, Bacon's Essays, Paradise Lost, Book II; Chaucer's Prologue to Canterbury Tales. Latin: Principia, Part 1, irregular verbs; Part IV, lessons and exercises; Parts I and IV, Cæsar's Invasion of Britain; Nepos, Miltiades, Pausanias, Aristides; (advanced)

Principia, Part IV, lessons and exercises, XXXIII to end; various, Sallust's Bellum Catilinarium, chaps. XXXVIII to end; Livy, Book 11; Virgil's Æneid, Book I; Horace, odes, Book III; sight translation. Arithmetic: Problems in simple interest, compound interest, present worth and discount, profit and loss, stocks, mental arithmetic; (advanced) miscellaneous exercises on the whole subject. Algebra: Fractions, simple equations, problems involving simple equations; (advanced) Todhunter, exercises XXXI to XLI (involution to permutations and combinations). Euclid: Book 1, pages 29 to 48; Books II and III, deductions; (advanced) Book VI; revise over Books I and IV; deductions. Trigonometry: Lock's Trigonometry, pages 1 to 108; (advanced) trigonometry, pages 117 to 245. Mechanics; Blackie's Elements (whole work). Chemistry: Miller's Inorganic Chemistry, pages 1 to 107; problems; (advanced) Miller's Inorganic Chemistry, pages 95 to end, group tests for metals, problems. French: Oxford and Cambridge grammar; (advanced) translations, various. English History: William III to present date. Roman History: Elements and antiquities. Geography: British Empire (Chisholm).

The following is a short history of the schools:

The first meeting of the governors of the Waitaki High School was held February 20, 1879. After much consideration, in July, 1879, it was decided to select as a site for the boys' high school a portion of land set aside as one of the reserves, distant about a mile from the town boundary. Thirty acres were allotted for school purposes, the remainder to be sold for revenue.

A bonus of £20 was offered for the best design for school buildings to be erected in stone, the total cost when completed not to exceed £5,000, the present portion to be erected not to cost more than £2,500. Messrs. Forrester and Lemon, of Oamaru, architects, were the successful competitors. The contractors for stonework were Messrs. Wilson and Rokburgh and for woodwork Mr. H. Sidon.

The foundation stone was laid October 12, 1881, by the Hon. Mr. Shrimski, U. L. C., by whom the bill vesting the endowments in a board for the purposes of secondary education was introduced into parliament.

In January, 1882, it was arranged through the courtesy of the Government that the agent general associate himself with the 2 other commissioners for the purpose of selecting a head master, 1 of them to be a professor of Oxford and Cambridge, the other a professor of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Mr. John Harkness, M. A., was chosen out of a great number of applicants.

In order to obtain funds for the erection of the building, a temporary loan of £3,500 was effected.

The schoolhouse is a large and handsome building of Oamaru stone with an ornamental frontage of 130 feet, providing accommodation for 50 boarders. It contains three large dormitories, four class rooms, a master's common room, a boy's dining room and reading room, besides the accommodation of the rector's house. A portion of the 30 acres has been made into cricket and tennis grounds. A fives court and gymnasium have also been erected.

The climate of the district is exceedingly good, being dry and bracing.

The tuition fees are 10 guineas per annum; for brothers, 8 guineas; but scholars from the primary schools in the county of Waitaki are at £4 108. per annum; for brothers £3 38. per annum. The year is divided into three terms.

The position of second master at the commencement of the school was secured by Mr. A. C. Gifford, B. A., of St. John's College, Cambridge. There were 15 applicants. Financial assistance was rendered the board (in order to enable it to provide scholarships) by the Hons. H. J. Millar and Robert Campbell, Mr. Shrimski, M. II. R., and by Messrs. John Reid and George Jones, jr.

The boys' high school was opened May 15, 1883, 19 pupils being in attendance. In about four years the number had reached 62; the average attendance has been about 40. Many boys from outside the district attend as boarders.

The Waitaki Girls' High School was established in October, 1887, in response to a strongly expressed wish of the community that there should be a secondary school

in Oamaru for girls as well as for boys. The Waitaki County council kindly granted the use of the county council building in exchange for the custom-house, which the government had granted to the Waitaki high school board, the former building being in a much better locality for the school. The government also granted a portion of a reserve for a playground.

Mrs. Burn, who had for fourteen years been lady principal of the Otago Girls' High School, Dunedin, but who had retired from that position in 1884, was offered and accepted the position of lady principal. The school was opened October 19, 1887, with 9 pupils, Mrs. Burn conducting it alone till the end of the year. In February, 1888, 27 pupils were entered on the school roll, and Miss Forbes, M. A., of New Zealand University, was elected first assistant.

The full high school course of study was then inaugurated. In 1889 the pupils reached 47 in attendance and a second assistant was appointed. At the end of the second year, 1889, one pupil was sent up for the matriculation examination of the New Zealand University and passed. One was sent up for the Otago education board senior scholarship examination and was successful in securing one of the scholarships. In the third year, 1890, the number of pupils was 37. In that year the standard of New Zealand University junior scholarship was reached. One girl was sent up for the examination and passed with credit, thus giving proof of the high character of the work done in the school. In 1891 the school in common with all the secondary schools in the colony suffered in its attendance, but still maintained its character for high-class work.

The course of study includes English, French, Latin, mathematics, science, drawing, drill, and class singing. Tuition fees are £8, sisters, £6 per annum, divided into three terms.

Both of these schools were established by act of parliament, the intention being that they should form a connecting link between the primary schools and the universities.

Although changes have taken place in the teaching staff, both schools have been under the superintendence of the same head teachers since their inauguration and are still under the management of a board of governors.

An endowment of about 2,000 acres was set apart by parliament in the county of Waitaki for the purpose of the board. A considerable portion of the money borrowed for the erection of the school buildings has been paid off out of the proceeds of sales of portion of the reserves referred to.

OTAGO BOYS' AND GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOLS.

The Otago Boys' High School has all along been doing very good work, and has sent out a very large number of youths who in their various walks of life have done and are doing infinite credit to themselves and to the school. That is owing in no small degree to the zeal and loyalty of Mr. Brent and the other able masters employed in the school. The present buildings were opened by his Excellency Sir William Jervois, governor of New Zealand, on February 11, 1885 and occupy a most suitable and commanding position adjoining the town belt. The plan of the building is that of a main central hall, around which are grouped the several class rooms. The central hall is 74 feet long by 43 feet in width and is 30 feet in height, with a gallery carried around both sides and ends. The several class rooms both on the ground and upper floors are very spacious, lofty, carefully ventilated, and fitted with all requisites and appliances to suit their purposes. The drawing school has been constructed on the most approved system, and is fully

furnished with models, plaster casts, and other materials of the art. The science room is supplied with requisites for the teaching of practical and theoretical chemistry and metallurgy. It also contains accessories to the teaching of physiology. The mathematical school has been excellently constructed for its purpose both as regards light and contrivances for demonstration. The gymnasium has been furnished on the exact model of that at Aldershot, and ranks among the best equipped in the colony. The grounds on which the school buildings are erected cover an area of about 6 acres; a large space around the school has been asphalted, and is occupied by five courts, tennis courts, etc. There is also a large cricket field adjoining the school grounds.

The rector's residence and the janitor's lodge are near the school. The public of Otago are indebted to the influence and untiring efforts of Sir Robert Stout for having secured to them so suitable and so valuable a site for the boys' high school. The boarders' house, under the superintendence of Mr. Morrison, English master, is situated about five minutes' walk from the school, and occupies one of the finest sites in Dunedin. It is surrounded with recreation grounds covering an area of about 7 acres with commodious play sheds and asphalt tennis court, etc. The building was designed expressly for the purpose of a boarding institution for the high school boys, and the equipments are very complete and in every way suitable.

The board of governors is incorporated under an act passed in 1877, and consists of the mayor of Dunedin ex officio, two gentlemen appointed by the governor in council, two appointed by the education board, and two appointed by the Otago University. The following are the present members of the board:

Rev. D. M. Stuart, D. D., chairman; Geo. Grey Russell, esq., honorable treasurer; the Hon. W. H. Reynolds, M. L. C.; Rev. A. R. Fitchett, M. A.; Henry Clark, esq.; John Hislop, LL. D.; his worship the mayor of Dunedin; Colin Macandrew, esq., secretary.

The staff of the school is as follows:

Rector. The Rev. Henry Belcher, M. A., LL. D. (fellow of Kings College, London). Masters.-Mechanics: Daniel Brent, M. A., Cambridge, formerly senior scholar of Queen's. English: W. Buller Williams, B. A. (London and Bonn), honors in German and English. Classics: M. Watson, M. A., Edinburgh, first-class honors in Lit. Hum.; Gray University scholar. Modern languages: The rector. Science: G. M. Thomson, F. C. S. Writing and drawing: Robert Anderton, first-class certificate in drawing of the science and art department, South Kensington. Arithmetic and lower master: John Macpherson, F. E. I. S. Assistant in the upper school: John R. Montgomery, M. A., junior university scholar, New Zealand. Assistants in the lower school: Vacant. Art master: David C. Hutton, principal of the school of arts. Assistant art master: David E. Hutton, assistant in the school of art. Gymnastics: John Hanna, late instructor Scots Guards. Manager of the boarding house: G. M. Thomson, Assistant: J. R. Montgomery, M. A. Janitor: John Wallace.

F. C. S.

The school consists of two departments: (a) The upper school; (b) the lower school.

The classification of subjects is such that on entering the school a boy