the English style, and to live in English comfort. They have good carriages, horses, cattle, and well-cultivated farms. One very interesting fact is the establishment by the natives at Pakowhai of a school where the children are now going through all the usual course of an English education, and show remarkable proficiency.
While on the subject of native schools it may be observed that this branch of civilisation has been warmly taken up by the Colonial Government; an annual subsidy extending over a course of years has been voted by Parliament, and devoted strictly to the object it was intended to attain; and it is a pleasing fact that a wide-spread disposition exists among the natives to impart to their children the benefits of education. It has been found by experience that the readiest method of instilling European habits into the natives is by teaching them the English language, and enlarging their understandings by acquainting them with the nature and geography of other countries in addition to the usual routine of daily school life. In many cases the result has exceeded all anticipation, the children being excessively quick at picking up the language of the pakeha, and very apt at figures and penmanship.
Napier until lately was the outpost of colonisation towards the interior. In 1866 a sharply contested battle was fought by the colonial forces with the insurgents at Omaranui, eight miles from the town; and it is within only the last two years that the neighbourhood has been safe from hostile incursions. The
