A.—4a,

5. Education. Till the present Administration the education of the Samoan has been in the hands of the missionaries almost entirely, and to them thanks are due for the 85 per cent, of Samoan literacy. They have had a system of schools in each village, taught by pastors who acted in a dual capacity of teacher and preacher. Reading and writing and some arithmetic were taught, and the instruction was largely of a religious nature. Under the present Administration a co-ordination is being attempted between these mission schools and those which have been introduced by the Administration. The scheme plans to leave the education of children from five to ten in the hands of the mission schools taught by dual teachers —i.e., pastor and teacher. There are about six thousand in these schools of the London Missionary Society, Methodist, Catholic, and Morman missions. No English is taught in these schools. From the ages of ten to fourteen these children will pass into the so-called secondgrade schools, taught by full-time Samoan teachers trained in Apia in teaching methods and English by New Zealand teachers. The buildings for these second-grade schools are furnished by each mission for its own second-grade scholars, as are the teachers. These, however, are paid by the Government an annual salary of £25. There are 2,400 children in daily attendance at these second-grade schools. From these each year the best twenty will be chosen by examination, and will be given a course in a Government agricultural school. There are eighty students in the agricultural school. From this school the best boys are taken to two schools, one in Savai'i and one in Upolu, where they are given a finishing course by white teachers to fit them for positions in Government services. In Apia there is a school for European and half-caste children, with an attendance of 240. An interesting feature of the Samoan school system is the publication of a quarterly journal, the Samoan School Journal, illustrated, and filled with short articles printed partly in English but largely in Samoan, the material of which is used for study in school classes. Unusual Educational Features. —The annual malaga, or journey, made by the Governor and some of his staff around the territory is unique in my experience, and remarkable for its simplicity and the results in obtaining the confidence of the Native and his interest and co-operation in measures for his own benefit. In the party there were the Governor, the Commissioner for Native Affairs, the Resident Commissioner of Savai'i, the Chief Medical Officer, the Collector of Customs and Taxes, the Aide-de-camp to the Governor, Dr. Buxton, and myself. The Governor brought with him thirty members of the Fetu o Samoa (Star of Samoa), a modification of the Boy Scouts movement suited to Samoan conditions, under a high chief of Samoa, Faumuina, a leader of the organization. Also, there were a few Native police, and our carriers and attendants. Entering or leaving a village we made a procession, with the Fetu in front with a drum, followed by the flag-bearer, then the General, then the other European members of the party, then the police and the attendants, that must have made a parade impressive to the Native mind, so susceptible to pomp and ceremony. Sometimes we were met miles out by local divisions of the Fetu and by other bodies of boys and girls, sometimes with Native musical instruments, and all marching in order. On arrival at the village we had the usual kava ceremony in the official reception-house of the village, where the usual courtesies of Samoan life w r ero exchanged at some length, sometimes an hour long, and the General announced the programme for the day. A small presentation of food was made at this time. In the afternoon, at 2, the formal reception was given us, in which respective orators for the village and for the party laboured for forty minutes or more in competition to see which one could be more loud in his praises of the other and more abject in apologies for his own humbleness. Then came presentations of food. Each head of a family must give ten taro and one large fish or two small ones, or a fowl, or a pig. The orator for his village called out the head of the family's name as he looked in the basket and praised him if the taro were big and the fish well cooked, or was very frank about the matter if the gift looked stingy, which caused much amusement. After this came the sivas, or dances, by the men or women : there were few of these. Then followed the important part of the afternoon's entertainment. The Fetu came out dressed only in a lavalava (cloth wound about the hips to the knees), bare body (for Samoa believes that the Native is healthier when he wears fewer clothes), with a rakish cap on the front of which is pinned a star, on the five points of which are the five mottoes of the Fetu. These boys then proceeded to demonstrate to the local villagers a number of simple sports that they could have and enjoy with the means at hand. These games were most diverting, and never lost their interest for me, and they were hugely enjoyed by the local youths, who were instructed by the Fetu immediately afterwards. The object of this is to interest the youth in his native village, and make him more content with it and less desirous of seeking the flesh-pots of European centres with the probability of becoming a permanent loafer there. Before the sports every day all youths were lined up, from young adults down to babies, for a presentation of lollies, the presentation of lollies being the lure used to insure a full attendance of all children. As these were lined up the doctors made a rapid survey of the population for ulcers, skin lesions, eye conditions, enlarged spleens, or other signs of disease. In some villages every child from ten years down was stripped, and examined. In the evening the Governor had conferences with the Native missionaries, and at 8 o'clock each night he met the heads of all the families in the district and addressed them. This was no casual talk, but a prepared speech, which also had been printed, and was now distributed to each head of a family. This speech embraced all the activities of the Government with the Natives, and explained what was being done and what was contemplated, and the reason for it. Long sections of it were devoted to disease-prevention, proper water-supplies, and proper latrine installation and their use, the purposes of the hookworm and yaws campaigns, the good' results of which were already visible. The Samoan is patriotic and proud of his blood, and he was told that there mustjbojaabies in the village if they were to increase and assume their former power and grandeur as. a race.. If they wanted improvements in their villages and European comforts they must plant coconuts and cut copra ; they must have bank accounts.

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