240 REMAUKS ON THE SYSTEM 



of assistance, which to them is valuable. For this 

 reason, some compensating advantage should be 

 offered to the father, to prevail on him to send his 

 children to school. 



Again, when once pupils have been procured, it 

 is exceedingly unwise to allow them to maintain a 

 constant intercourse with their tribe, and be thus 

 subjected to deteriorating influences that must al- 

 most irresistibly combat the beneficial effects of 

 their education. But it is needless to dwell further 

 on this subject, as Mr. Eyre has so completely 

 stated the question in his late work. 



I cannot, however, refrain from alluding to another 

 point in connection with this matter ; namely, that 

 when I visited South Australia, all instruction was 

 communicated in the native language. My attention 

 had already been drawn to the subject on visiting 

 Tahiti, in 1835, when I perceived with regret, 

 that the missionaries, instead of endeavouring to 

 introduce the English tongue, persisted in imparting 

 instruction in a kind of corrupted dialect, of which 

 the words were for the most part native, whilst 

 the syntax and construction were in exact conformity 

 with our own ; the observation of the same circum- 

 stance at New Zealand, had further induced me to 

 reflect on the subject. How much more prudent 

 would it have been to introduce, at once, the lan- 

 guage of Great Britain into the islands of the Pacific; 

 as, judging from every indication, it must ultimately 

 prevail over the vast variety of primitive and imper- 

 fect dialects now spoken ; and which serve as 



