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 CHAPTER XVIII.

turn now more to the social than the physical features of the colony. After the neatness and numbers of the churches, perhaps the next thing that most strikes a reflective observer is the attention that is paid to education, as exemplified in the number of schools, colleges, seminaries, and other educational buildings one meets. Although possessing a considerably more rigorous and mutable climate than New South Wales, the school buildings, as a rule, are not nearly so pretentious and expensive in New Zealand as they are in the former colony. This one fact alone speaks well for the practical nature of the people. In New South Wales enormous sums of money have been needlessly spent in erecting stone buildings far in advance of the requirements of the times. The schools are mostly built of wood in country districts in New Zealand. They are comfortable and neat. The children generally are taught together in class on the floor; but in the benches and at the