53

H.—6c.

TROOPER SILBEY.]

164. And how many men were there at the table? —Sixteen. 165. Out of every sixteen men had nine to sleep on the deck ?—I should say so. 166. How often did you go down and have a look at them ?—Very often at night. 167. And you found more than half unable to get hammock-space ? —Yes. 168. Was it because they had no place to hang the hammocks ?—Yes. 169. Did you take actual notice ? —I did not take actual notice. 170. Did you look to see if there were hooks ?—The men told me so. On my own knowledge I did not know that there were not enough hooks. 171. Did you know how far the hooks were apart?—l could not say. 172. Did you ever notice the hooks on the beams ?—Yes, I noticed the hooks. 173. Can you give us any idea how far apart they were ?—I could not say. 174. Have' you any idea whether they were 1 ft. or 3 ft. apart?—l do not think they were 1 ft. apart, but they may have been. 175. The"hooks for hammocks were not 1 ft. apart?— They may have been 1 ft. I could not say. 176. Surely you have some impression ? —I never took particular notice. 177. And yet you say that they were 1 ft. ? —They may have been more than 1 ft. 178. What did you say ?—I cannot say. 179. Did you ever notice at all ?—Yes, I noticed. 180. What did you notice? —I noticed hooks. I could not say how far apart they were. 181. And you have no impression how far apart?— No. 182. You told us that there were some bags of rotten vegetables ?—Yes, sir. 183. Do you think these vegetables could have been kept from going bad?— Yes, sir. 184. What steps could have been taken ?—By issuing them before they began to get rotten. 185. How many days out from Durban was it when they began to get rotten ?—A week out from Durban. 186. What were the vegetables ?—There were parsnips, turnips, cabbages. 187. Do parsnips and turnips go rotten in a week? —They must have been on board a week. 188. Do you think the men ought to have been made to eat them ?—They should have been used before. 189. You think the throwing overboard was justifiable? —Yes. 190. What pay did you receive for going into the saloon galley?—No pay. 191. You asked for nothing?— Yes ; I asked just to get into the saloon galley. 192. Why did you go to the saloon galley ? —Because lam a steward. I applied to go into the saloon, but I did not have a uniform, so I went into the galley. 193. Did they give you any pay? —No. 194. Any liquor ?—No. 195. Why did you go ? —Because it breaks the monotony of the voyage and passes away the time. 196. You say a certain amount of water was allowed ?—No, I could not say. 197. How much : was it enough ? —I could not say. 198. Why did you make any remark about the water?— Well, by hearing the troopers say so; that is all I know about it. 199. You do not know what water they were getting ?—No ; I always had plenty. 200. You had plenty of everything always ?—Yes, sir. 201. You say tea and coffee were made in the troops' galley and sold?— Yes, sir. 202. Was anything sold beside tea and coffee ?—Yes ; sandwiches. 203. Had you anything to do with the sale of it ?—No. 204. Did you serve them ?—No. 205. You never served them with tea, coffee, or sandwiches? —No. 206. The cooks and the cooks' mate were always serving ? —The second cook and his mates. 207. How many were in the galley ?—The chief cook, the second cook, the third cook, the fourth cook, and vegetable-cook, and myself. 208. Was this done openly? —Yes. 209. Did the chief cook know of it ? —Yes. 210. And all the other cooks ?—Yes, sir. 211. What stores were being used ? Where did the tea come from ? Were they from the ship's stores ?—That I could not say. 212. Was it made out of the same tea given to the men ?—Yes, out of the same tea as given to the men. 213. And the coffee ?—That used to be issued at night to the cook. 214. Then, the cooks were selling the ship's stores?— Yes, sir. 215. And you knew that?— Yes, I knew that. 216. Did you make any remonstrance ?—No, sir. 217. Did you report it ? —No, sir. 218. What were the sandwiches made of ? — Made of roast beef—sometimes mutton—and bread-and-butter. 219. Were those ship's stores?— Yes, sir. 220. They were sold by the cooks? —Yes, sir. 221. What became of the money ?—The cooks kept that themselves. 222. And you got no share? —No, sir. 223. What did they charge for these sandwiches, tea, and coffee ?—Sixpence. 224. Never more than 6d. ?—I could not say that. 225. You complain that people got wet-footed in the latrines. What was the nature of the wet: was it urine or was it water ?—lt was urine and water.