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CONNECTED WITH THE SHIP "ENGLAND."

G.—No. 3.

9

effect that they slept betvf een decks on their voyage to England, and had plenty of food. The weather was cold and stormy, but it must be remembered that a passage across the North Sea in the month of December is pretty sure to be attended with bad weather. Reference has already been made to the arrival of the emigrants in London before the ship was in a state fit for their reception; and in the evidence of the captain, the surgeon, and others, ample proof will be found that they were put on board before the vessel was fitted to receive them, and that, by reason of the loading of cargo being carried on at night, all between decks were exposed to the inclemency of the weather, while the absence of many conveniences necessary on deck subjected them to great discomfort. One of the witnesses (Cullen) speaks of their having to sleep in the dock-sheds, but this is expressly denied by the captain and other witnesses ; and we think Cullen must have been mistaken in the evidence he gave on this point. Very shortly after leaving, difficulty appears to have been encountered by the surgeon in carrying out the sanitary arrangements, and the captain, observing this, relieved him from this portion of his duty. We think these arrangements were better carried out under the captain's more experienced direction, and that a more ready obedience w Tould be given to his authority. We have already stated that the provisions supplied to the immigrants were according to the legal scale, and that there were no well-founded complaints; but the medical comforts do not appear to have been by any means sufficient to provide against the contingencies of sickness. As a matter of fact they were soon exhausted, and it is only just to Captain Harrington to say that he was most generous in ministering to the wants of all classes of the passengers during the voyage. He personally inspected the culinary arrangements, and from his own stores supplied what was requisite in the way of increased medical comforts. The list of medical comforts supplied by the charterers will be found in the Appendix (marked E), and it seems manifest that the quantities are very small for the number of persons on board, especially with so large a proportion of children. (b.) The Provision made for their Medical Treatment, and the Actual Medical Treatment. This part of the duty assigned to us gave us great difficulty in dealing with it so as to elucidate satisfactory conclusions. We may first refer to the appointment of the surgeon, who was selected by the charterers, and engaged under the agreement marked Hin the Appendix. It seems that he was not appointed till close upon the elate fixed for the departure of the ship, and that in a conversation which the captain had with the manager of the charterers, the latter made a remark which appeared to convey a doubt as to his mental capacity. It is true, the captain states that he did not, from his after experience, consider this remark justified ; but the terms of the conversation alluded to leaves an impression on our minds as to Messrs. Shaw, Saville, and Go's, knowledge of an unfitness in the surgeon for the post to which he was appointed. On the other hand, however, the surgeon, although a young man, has held responsible offices connected with the practice of his profession, in particular the position of House Physician to the North Staffordshire Infirmary, and during the period of his study he took four silver medals in different subjects at the class examinations of Charing Cross Hospital. He admits, however, that he was compelled to relinquish his employment in England from ill health, and that he undertook the voyage for the purpose of re-establishing it, and that he suffers from epileptic fits. After being a fortnight at sea, he became irregular in attendance on the people; and although this was caused by his sea-sickness, yet when he did again attend, and found sickness among the children, there seems to have been a lack of energy in grappling with the difficulty. In the captain's evidence, and in that of other witnesses, it will be found that one special feature which rendered the surgeon unable to discharge his duty was that he laboured under a defective memory, and that he seemed to forget the treatment which had been adopted on a previous day, and even mistook the character of the disease and sex of the patient. In his medical journal, which was produced to us, there is evidence of this confusion shown by the entries.

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