1.—9.

6

Nearly all the seamen we have now come from other countries. Nearly all our vessels are manned by foreigners —Swedes or Norwegians. They are the best men we can get at the present time, for there are v«ry few sailors of our own. 104:. I am to understand that you are in favor of instruction being given, as far as possible, on board of live vessels ?—The boys will learn a great deal more. When they go to sea they will not be sick, and they will lcain to steer, and many things they conld not learn on board a ship moored in the harbor. 105. Suppose it were possible at Port Chalmers, Lyttelton, Wellington, and Auckland, to have the school buildings on shore, and allow a certain number of the boys week by week to take charge of the small sailing vessels, and learn navigation and practical seamanship in this way I —l think that would be well. 106. I will put it in this way. Do not you think it would bo better to have the boys in a school building on shore in a suitable position than shut up in a hulk ?—I think so. The lads would be far better in a house on shore. You would want a vessel as big as the " Wolverine "if you desired to have the school on board. 107. You do not think it desirable to keep many hundred children locked up in a ship month after month ?—lt would tend to make them hate the ship. Too much of a ship in harbour would tend to make them hate it altogether. 108. Mr. Daniel.~\ What is your opinion with regard to training ships, such as those at Portsmouth, Chatham, Woolwich, and other places in the Old Country ?—The training ships at the places you refer to are very large. They have three or four decks, where there is any quantity of room. I think, however, as I said before, that a school on shore would be better. 109. Suppose we had a man-of-war—say, a suitable brig—stationed in the harbour here. Do you not think it would be well if the Naval Volunteers were to go on board on Saturdays and sail the vessel down the harbor and back ?—lt is quite possible that this would do for one of the harbours, but it would be better to have.small vessels for the others. I think that might work well enough. Ido not think there are any man of-war brigs left now. 110. It might be possible to get a nice corvette?— That might do for one of your ports, but you must have live vessels for other purposes. 111. We should not want the vessels to which I rsfer to be stationary. They could go to Lyttelton or Auckland in the same way as vessels of the same kind at Home go upon a two-months' cruise?—l am afraid you would find that rather expensive. 112. How many officers do you think would be required to work a vesesl of the kind?—lt would take a lot of work to keep a corvette or brig in decent order. 1 think it would be too much for us. 113. Would not a captain and two officers with a boatswain and the boys be able to keep such a vessel in order ?—No doubt they could. They could not, however, go to. sea without a few able men. A vessel of the class to which you refer is not like a schooner. 114. Do you not think the Naval Volunteers would be able to assist a great deal?— You would not get them to go to Lyttelton or Auckland with the chance of being away for perhaps six weeks. Such a vessel as you speak of might possibly do in one of the harbors of New Zealand. I should go in for small schooners and teach the boys what they would have to earn their living with by-and-bye. It is impossible to teach lads seamanship in a harbour. Bending sails and sending yards up and down has gone out of date. 115. How would you manage if a ship got dismasted in a gale of wind?— Such a thing can scarcely happen now with the masts and rigging we have. We seldom or never hear of such a thing now as a vessel getting dismasted. While we used to hear of a case of the kind every week, we do not hear of one a year now. The masts are part of the ship now, they are built no solid, of iron. I do not think our children will ever hear much of dismasted ships. It is not like the olden days where everything was of wood and rope. I scarcely think it is necessary to teach our young sailors how to rig a jury-mast. 116. Are you not aware that a great many of our sailors are brought up and trained on steam vessels, and that when they go on board sailing vessels they are nearly useless ?—No doubt they would be. On a steamer there is not ranch to do except to steer and keep the vessel clean. That is mostly what the men do. We have more steamer sailors now than we have sailing vessel sailors, and in my opinion we shall find less of the last-mentioned class every year. 117. Do you not think it will be to the interest of the ports of New Zealand to have numbers of these boys trained so as to be able to go on board ships as seamen ?—I think it will, and I think you will train them best in the schooners spoken of. They will learn seamanship in that way much better than they will on board a brig stationed in a harbour. You must take them to sea at any rate. They must learn to steer and not to be sea-sick. I found that the Kohiniarama boys got sick directly I went to sea with them, just the same as if I had picked them up in the street. 118. Mr R. TwribulLl Your experience so far as seamen are concerned is that those of the English race are scarce ?—You scarcely find any English sailors here now. 119. To what do you ascribe this ?—Compulsory apprenticeship has gone out of date at Home. 120. Then we are not training up any seamen of our own, but employ those of other nations?— That appears to be the case. 121. Steamers are of course taking the places of sailing vessels even along the coast ?—All over the world. Sailing ship sailors are less wanted every year, and steamer sailors are more wanted. 122. There will always be a certain amount of trade carried on between our different ports by means of small schooners ?—There is always bound to be some trade of that kind. I may say that a schooner sailor makes a capital steamer sailor. 123. I suppose there will always be a certain amount of tonnage for sailing vessels about the coast of New Zealand I —That is true, but I think it will be less every year. 124. Will there be no means of employing these schooners between New Zealand and adjacent places such as Fiji ?—Yes ; but the steamers cut them out of a great deal of this trade. 125. In your opinion boys trained up with an actual experience of the sea will be useful ?—Yes ;, but they will be too old to go on steamers as boys.

Captain FaircMht. 21st July, 1882.',