TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 9? 



Education can nowhere be at a lower ebb than it is at present in Bengal. The 

 children are absolutely tanght nothing ! Predestinarians in the extreme, they are 

 exceedingly indifferent to life, and professionally speaking, I may say they are 

 adverse to anything like a surgical operation, fate being all in all, to them. The 

 field for discussion on these points is wide, and 1 might be digressing from the 

 objects of your Committee, were I to expatiate on the present mode of education 

 pursuetl by philanthropists who have lately taken up the subject in India. To the 

 education of our own sex there never has been any obstacle, but against that of the 

 female, have been pitted the custom of the country, the superstition of the parties 

 themselves, and the extraordinary ascendency maintained by their pundits or priests 

 over every class of society. I would give the palm to the Mussulmen in point of 

 thirst for knowledge and freedom from moral tyranny ; they rank far before the 

 Hindoos; they are freer from superstition and crafty priesthood; ami from being 

 more of one family among themselves, I believe their creed to be of a better 

 stamp than that of the Hindoo, whose name is Legion as to variety of caste. 



Puberty takes place at a very early age. I have knotvn a mothei- as young as 

 eleven ; and I have heard of such even at an earlier age. Families, generally speak- 

 ing, are not large ; I think three is the outside average : a twin birth is not common. 



Children are taken very little care of; bad nursing, bad nourishment, and hence 

 their stunted and frequently squalid appearance. 



As to the age to which children are borne, I consider thirty above the mark ; being 

 given in marriage as early as four or five years of age, and being passed over to the 

 husband at the first attainment of puberty. I am not aware of any ceremonies being 

 connected with particular periods of the life of a child, excepting the circumcision of 

 the Mahoinedan, and the investment of the Brahminical thread of the Hindoo. On 

 both these occasions there is a religious ceremony, simply invoking blessings on the 

 respective heads of the parties. 



Chastity is scarcely known ; among the higher classes it is, from their position, 

 more observed, it being difficult for the women of rank to leave the zenana; but 

 where the sanctity of the harem is not observed, married life is only a nanie. I am 

 not aware of any superstitions on this subject ; rejoicing and feasting are the accom« 

 paniments of a marriage, a procession always taking place on the occasion ; the 

 priests being the parties who simply let the parents understand that the marriage has 

 taken place, and there it ends. Divorce is not known, and for this reason polygamy 

 is frequent; and although there is one wife whose station is considered superior to 

 any other, the offspring of others is equally legitimate. Widows, from not being 

 allowed to marry a second time, whatever age they may be, almost invariably go 

 astray, and are consequently looked down upon as outcasts. 



The sick are generally treated by their own native medical men, three-fourths of 

 the treatment consisting of faith, superstition and charms, and the remaining fourth 

 in the administration of some vegetable medicine adapted to cure the disease. 



Survey of the Southern Part of the Middle Island of New Zealand. 

 By Capt. J. L. Stokes, R.N., F.R.G.S. 



Having been employed in 1844 by the New Zealand Company to explore the 

 eastern and southern coasts of the middle island of New Zealand, in order to select 

 a suitable site for the then projected settlement of New Edinburgh, I had occasion 

 to examine carefully the district described. I can fully confirm the accuracy of these 

 observations in respect to the vast extent of available surface which exists south of 

 Tuturau and the Mataura river to the shore of Leveause Straits, between the Eurete 

 or New River and the Aparinia westward, as also to the east of the Eurete. I can- 

 not however concur in recommending it as a district eligible for a settlement; instead 

 of its affording good pasture for grazing, or fertile soil for husbandry, in my judgement 

 the surface is rather rude, and the vegetation chiefly large detached bunches of a 

 very coarse sharp-edged junk. Where the banks of the Aparima and Eurete are 

 wooded, I found chiefly the Totara and the Manuka growing luxuriantly, but in 

 deep sand, whilst those portions of the gently undidated uplands, which are wooded, 

 afford almost exclusively varieties of the birch, which abounds and attains great 

 1851. 7 



