E.—No. 1.

November, 1863, (and the statement applies to nearly all whom they received at other times also), they were in wretched health; haggard, worn and distressed in body and mind; barely covered with a few filthy rags ; without blankets; crawling with vermin: eaten up with a purulent and infectious itch peculiar to the Maori race, (originating in filthy habits and poor living) ; many of them severely wounded, others (and not a few) Buffering from scrofulous habits of body and pulmonary disease of long standing. 7. How the Government Clothed them. The Government clothed the whole of them almost immediately after their arrival, and once again at least while they remained in custody. Good new blankets were also served-out to them. As the cold weather approached a supply of ticking and straw was provided at the suggestion of the Medical Officer of the ship, and mattrasses were made for the whole party. This was an unusual luxury in Maori life, the great majority of the community sleeping on the hard ground, with seldom anything more between it and their bodies t han their blankets, a little fern, or a hard flax mat. It may be stated also that the military guard had precisely the same accommodation in this respect as the Maoris, sleeping in their blankets on the ship's decks. They made no complaint till mattrasses were supplied to the Maoris, when they asked for and obtained them also. 8. How they were Fed. Their rations at first were the full Military rations, the same as allowed to Her Majesty's forces and the Colonial Militia (with the exception of ardent spirits, which of course were not allowed) ; and with the addition of potatoes and a good deal of fish, for which they were allowed to angle with lines provided by the Government. Subsequently, on the recommendation of the Medical Officer of the ship, the ration was varied by an increase of vegetable and farinaceous food, and a dimunition of animal food; a change appreciated by the natives, and which enabled them to have each a mess of hot gruel at bed-time. Being all habitual smokers, tobacco was not prohibited, and through the liberality of visitors or by supply from Government, they were seldom, if ever, without this luxury. Great care was taken to secure the best description of provisions, and fresh water was liberally supplied from the shore at a cost of £21 a month. 0. Methods adopted to secure Cleanliness. 1. Of the Ship. The decks were scraped every other day with iron scrapers, (nautical fashion) ; sprinkled' with chloride of lime every day; and the whole ship fumigated frequently with oxyde of mangaifese and sulphuric acid. Besides this the interior of the lower and upper deck compartments were frequently distempered w ith lime, which contributed both to light and cleanliness. 2. Of their Persons and Clothes. —The prisoners were all brought on deck every day at early morning and compelled to wash their whole bodies in largo tubs of cold, salt water. They washed their clothes twice every week. The total quantity of soap used during their confinement \\:is 1,983 lbs. It has been stated that "a most offensive impression, amounting almost to sickness, existed in the ship, evidently arising from organic matter given off by the respiration of numbers of individuals crowded into insufficient space ; and that the blankets appeared charged with organic matter emanai ing from their persons, &c." Considering the daily ablutions above recorded, it is certain that there is much exaggeration in this highly scientific and technical description of unpleasant smells. That most persons of a dark skin have a peculiar odour which is disagreeable to Europeans, but which is no more offensive to themselves than the smell of a goat is to other goats, and which a Member of the House of Representatives once designated as " the bouquet d'aborigines," is a fact well known to any one who has ever sat for even a few minutes ill a room with them. AVTien a number of them are collected together in one chamber, and on a warm sunny day, the result is not agreeable ; but that anything more than this was likely to exist, or did exist, in connection with the persons of Maoris whose entire bodies were washed every day—their clothes twice a week, and the building in which they lived daily sprinkled with chloride of lime, and often fumigated with more powerful antiseptics —Ministers do not believe. And they venture to suggest that his Excellency's personal knowledge of the New Zealander ought to have prevented his attaching much weight to a report [see note appended C] which has such a Set as this for its most prominent feature. The Maoris are by no means a cleanly people. Dirt, itch, and vermin are normal characteristics of a large portion of them ; but Ministers feel well assured that the prisoners, as a body, never had been so clean in their lives, as they were during their residence on board the hulk, and probably will never, while they live, be so clean again. 10. Other Sanitary Provisions. A temporary hospital was separated off from the rest of the ship. The sick and the sanitary arrangements generally were placed in charge of Mr. Sain, M.R.C.S., L., an experienced surgeon, who* had held a commission as such in 11. M. Service, and boon in charge of a prison ship in the Crimea ; and who was specially recommended to the Government for this service by Dr. Mouatt, C.8., Principal Medical Officer of Her Majesty's Forces, and Deputy Inspector-General. Nothing that Mr. Sam recommended, cither in the way of food, nourishment, or accommodation, was refused. Large quantities of port wine, cod-liver oil, quinine, and other costly medicines and medical comforts were supplied. The daily returns of this officer, appended, will show how successfully the large amount of disease which existed at first was reduced before the removal to Kawau. There is no doubt that very many of the late prisoners owe their lives to the medical care and attention bestowed upon them in the hulk, and that others are in the full or partial enjoyment of health, who, had they not had the benefit of residence there, would now have been in their graves. The total number of deaths which occurred while they were on the hulk was nine. These were all cases of scorfulous and pulmonary disease of old standing, and would probably have terminated fatally much sooner, had the patients been at large in their own homes. There was also one death from pulmonary disease at Kawau, after their removal to that place. While touching on the sanitary condition of the prisoners, it may be

48

MEMORANDA AND REPORTS