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734. Do you know under whose authority you were —the Imperial authority or the colonial ?— So far as I know, we were under the Imperial. 735. Then, were you under Imperial or colonial regulations ?—I could not say. 736. You say it was too hot down below ?—Yes. 737. Did anybody take the temperature there: was there any record of how hot it was?— No. I only know we used to rush up on deck to get a breath of fresh air and to get cool. 738. Any ventilation in the 'tween decks ?—Only through the gangway and the portholes. 739. No windsails ? —None. 740. You say the food was not too good : do you mean that the meat was bad ?—As far as I know, the meat was bad. I could not eat it. 741. Why not? —Some of it was raw, and the smell was bad. 742. Was it good or was it bad when it was served out?—lt looked bad. 743. How? —It was of a greenish colour. 744. Were the men obliged to eat that meat? —I do not know. I never ate it, and I used to complain every time. 745. Was it green when cooked? —It was green after it was cooked, and when it was cooked. 746. Were complaints made about the quality of the meat ? —Yes; there were nearly always complaints. 747. To whom ? —To the orderly officer. 748. Did he endeavour to remedy it? —I could not say. We got bully beef a couple of times after the complaint. 749. Was that in substitution for the bad meat ?—Yes. 750. Then, the men were not obliged to eat the bad meat ?—No. 751. Was there any occasion when the meat was bad and it was reported, and no effort made to put it right ?—I think there was. 752. Do you know when? —I could not say. 753. Do you know the officer to whom the complaint was made ? —Complaints were made to nearly all the officers. 754. We want to get at some person who neglected his duty. We shall then have something to go on : but if you speak in this general way we cannot get at it ?—I could not say to which officer complaints were made. There were complaints nearly every day. 755. How soon did you commence to buy from the cooks ?—I began to buy when we were three days out. 756. What did they supply you with ?—With potatoes and vegetables, and a bun and a cup of tea now and then. 757. Was the meat the same as that supplied to the officers? —I could not say. I never ate meat on board, except bully beef. 758. What did you have for breakfast? —We seldom had any breakfast at all. I used to get up between 12 and 2 o'clock in the night and have a bun and a cup of tea. 759. No breakfast ?—Hardly any breakfast. 760. When was the next meal ?—At 7 o'clock in the evening. 761. What was it?— Some sort of stew. 762. Stewed in the cooks' galley ?—Yes. 763. You say the tea and coffee were horrible ?—I never touched them. They came out of the same boiler that the meat was boiled in. 764. How do you know the coffee was horrible ?—I could smell it. 765. What does " horrible " mean? Do you mean that it was dirty ?—Well, it looked pretty filthy. 766. Could you not go a little closer than that? Was there anything special to draw your, attention to it ?—Well, the tea was greasy. 767. Why was that? —I cannot say. Whether it was boiled in the same boiler as the meat, I do not know. 768. As to the fish being left lying 011 the deck, did that occur frequently?—l only saw it once. 769. Were the men compelled to eat that fish?—l do not know. 770. Was there a complaint made about it?— Yes, there was a complaint. 771. Were the men told they must eat it or go without?— Some of them took the fish on deck and showed it to Colonel Davies'but I do not know whether anything was done. 772. Did you see the dogs pump-ship over it ?—Yes. 773. Then what happened to it ? —lt was still lying on the deck. 774. Was this an every-day occurrence ?—No. It only happened once. 775. Do you think it is likely the men would be told they must eat it?—No; I suppose they would please themselves. 776. Would not other food be substituted for it?— The men who made the complaint would get bully beef. I think they were given bully beef instead of the fish. 777. And the bread, how was it ?—lt was good bread. It was very good. 778. And the biscuits? —Well, I never ate a biscuit on the boat. 779. Do you know that the men got biscuits ?—There was a barrel of biscuits on the deck. 780. And were the men allowed to take them ?—Yes. 781. Were they decent biscuits ?—They looked right enough. 782. About the accommodation for the men : do you know what width the hammock-hooks were apart? —I could not say exactly, but I think they were about 2 ft. apart. 783. Do you think it would be as much as 2 ft.?— That would be the outside. I know when the hammocks were hanging they were all overlapping one another. 784. Were there enough hooks for every hammock to be hung?—l could not toll you. Some of the hooks were broken.

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