76                                                           REPORT ON THE

Establishment.

Establishment.—In July I lost for a time the services of the Head Overseer and matron,
of whom I have year after year written in terms of the highest commendation. The
Matron's health had been failing for a long time, and she now became alarmingly ill, so that
her leaving the country on medical certificate was indispensable. It was impossible for her
to travel alone, and under the emergency I was compelled to allow her husband to accompany
her on furlough. Their duties have been discharged most efficiently by Mr. Bancroft and his
wife. A stranger to the work could not be appointed without extreme risk, and though
Mr. Bancroft could not be altogether liberated from the Dullunda Asylum in the day time, it
seemed to me much the best course to secure his experienced aid for this institution as well as
that of his wife for the female ward. Mr. Bancroft has brought to the task all the activity,
firmness, temper, and intelligence, which have done so much for the native asylum, and his
experience as an old and trusty non-commissioned officer of Horse Artillery has been most
useful in the management of Europeans. Mrs. Bancroft's conduct in the female wards has
left nothing to desire at her hands, notwithstanding that having no effective assistance at her
command she has found herself in her new office subjected on occasions to some rough
treatment.

The conduct of the native establishment has been on the whole very satisfactory.