H.— 6c.

52

[troopee silbey.

106. And you say the meat was blue ?—Yes, sir. 107. Was any notice taken of the meat being blue ?—I believe there was. 108. Do you know that there was ?—No, I do not. 109. To whom was complaint made ?—To the orderly officer. 110. Can you tell us any one particular occasion when complaint was made to the orderly officer?—l could not aay that. I know there was complaint, but I could not say when. 111. Did you ever see a medical officer present?—l saw Major Pearless. 112. Was complaint made to him?—l could not say. 113. You say complaint was made : was Dr. Pearless present on the occasion when the complaint was made ?—I would not say that. 114. Was any veterinary surgeon in attendance when the meat was issued?—l could not say that. 115. Did you know there was a veterinary surgeon on board ?—Yes, there was a veterinary surgeon on board. 116. Did he attend at the serving-out of the meat ?—I could not say. 117. How often were you at the serving-out of the meat?— There were two servings-out of meat. I was not present at all. 118. Not at all! Then, how did you know about the complaints?—By hearing from the troopers. 119. You know nothing yourself about the complaints ?—No. 120. No notice was taken of them at first, but later on when the upper deck was rushed? — Yes; but I could not tell you what day. 121. On what occasion was the upper deck rushed ?—About their not getting sufficient food. 122. Who rushed the decks ?—The troopers. 123. Of which regiment ?—Both regiments. 124. How many men altogether rushed the decks ?—I should take it to be about forty. 125. What squadron did the}' belong to ?—All squadrons. 126. Were any of the men of your own squadron there ?—Yes. 127. Tell us some of their names? —I can tell you a lot of them, but I do not know their names. 128. Not even of your own squadron ?—No ; I was never in my own squadron. 129. Were you not in the squadron in the field ?—Yes ; I was only a day in the squadron. I was in the mess-room —the officers' mess. 130. You say there was not enough food to keep the men alive ?—Yes. 131. What is sufficient, do you think, to keep a man alive ?—-I reckon if a man gets a pound of meat a day and vegetables he is all right, and bread-and-butter. 132. Did they ever get any butter?— Yes. 133. Good butter?— Yes. 134. Any jam?— Yes. 135. How often ?—I could not say how often. I know they got jam, and I know they got marmalade. 136. Was the bread bad ?—lt was good, but sometimes it would be a bit doughy. 137. Biscuits? —I could not say. 138. You have told us there was not sufficient food ?—Yes, sir. 139. To keep the men alive. That is a very grave statement, and you have told us they got bread and biscuits ?—I did not say about biscuits. 140. You say there was not sufficient food to keep them alive ?—I said there was not sufficient rations to keep them going. 141. Did the men get thin on the voyage ?—Yes; a lot of them. 142. Did they lose much ?—I could not say. 143. What weight did you lose ?—I never lost any ; I gained. 144. You took care of yourself ?—Yes ; I was in the galley. 145. How often did the men have stewed apples ?—On one occasion. 146. And only one occasion ?—Yes. 147. You say the blankets were full of vermin ? —Yes, sir. 148. Did you examine them yourself ? —Yes, sir. 149. What appearance had the blankets : did they appear clean or dirty ?—They appeared clean, and looked clean. 150. How many lice did you find on the occasion you looked for them ? —Five or six. 151. Were they easy to find ? —Well, you would have to look for them, of course. 152. Did you take any steps to have your blankets cleaned ?—I gave my blankets in again. 153. To whom did you give them in ?—To Quartermaster McDonnell. 154. Why did you give them in ?—Because there were vermin on them. 155. What made you look particularly at the blankets ?—All the others were looking at them. 156. Did any one else report vermin to anybody ?—I believe they did; I could not say, sir. 157. You say there used to be a great rush for hammock-space ?—Yes, sir. 158. Where did you sleep ?—The first time I slept down below —the first night out. 159. And after that ?—Down below in D squadron. 160. You always slept there? —Only the first night. 161. After that?—l slept down with the cooks. 162. How often were you down of an evening when this rush took place for hammock-space ? —Two or three occasions. 163. How many hooks do you think there were for each mess-table ?—There would be about six or seven.