TROOPER MUIR. J

61

H.— 60.

549. Did you see much drunkenness on board ?—No, very little. 550. Was there much gambling going on ?—Not to a great extent: there was not. 551. Just as much as you might expect among any crowd of men?— Yes, sir. 552. The Chairman.] You say the meat was green three or four times?— Yes, to my knowledge, sir. 553. What did you think of the meat ?—I thought it was not very bright. 554. What was wrong with it ?—The look of it, also the smell; it did not have a pure smell. 555. Was this after cooking or before ?—After cooking. 556. You did not see it green on more than three or four occasions?— Just on three or four occasions, to my knowledge. 557. What did you say about the soup?— Made with salt water. 558. How often? —Twice, to my knowledge. 559. Otherwise how was it? —Sometimes it was very good, but the vegetables in it were not properly cooked. 560. In what way do you mean not properly cooked ?—To my taste they felt a little raw. 561. Did you say there were not enough hooks to hang all the hammocks ?—No, sir. 562. Were all the hooks occupied?— The first two or three nights after we left Durban they were not all occupied, because we ail felt warm and preferred to lay on the decks, but after that it got very cold and we were forced to use the hammocks. 563. Who regulated the hanging of the hammocks—who saw to it ? Did every man put his hammock up where he chose ?—There was a certain ciine in which we were to get our hammocks ud from down below, where they were put in the morning. 564. Did each man get the same hammock every day?— Pretty well; but there were several that never. 565. Do you think it is possible that the hammocks were alung crooked instead of being slung true fore-and-aft ? Were any hooks missed ? —There were no hooks missed. 566. How many men were compelled to sleep on deck?—lt is hard to say for my squadron, because we had one table on one side of the ship and the rest of the squadron was on the other side. There were only just about five or six hooks to our table. 567. How many were at your table ?—Sixteen. 568. Then, out of sixteen, eleven had to sleep on the floor ?—Yes, there were, to my knowledge ; and they always preferred to sleep on the floor. 569. Do you think there were only hooks for five out of sixteen men ? —Yes ; for five or six. 570. What was your occupation before you joined the contingent ?—A ploughman and miner, sir. 571. Colonel Davies.] Which was your regiment, second or first —which was your squadron ?— Second E squadron. 572. Who was in charge ? —Captain Fookes._ Quartermaster-Sergeant McDonnell further examined on oath. (No. 17.) 573. The Chairman.] Do you know a man named Silby who was on board the " Britannic " ? ■—I knew him well. 574. Do you remember his returning his blankets into store ?—No. He may have done so, but never to me. 575. Did any other men return their blankets to you? —No. 576. Mr. McNab.] If Silby swore on oath, " I returned my blankets to QuartermasterSergeant McDonnell," and subsequently said " I do not think Sergeant McDonnell saw the blankets were crawling," do you assert the first statement was absolutely untrue?—He never returned them to me. 577. What sort of reputation had Silby in the company as to his truthfulness?—l do not know. I know that when he came on board at Durban he went into the saloon galley and worked there of his own accord. It was the same on the " Surrey." He went into the bakehouse, and he was in it all the way on the " Surrey." Trooper Fredekick Edward Moobe examined on oath. (No. 18.) 578. The Chairman.] To what contingent did you belong ?—I went out with the Tenth, and afterwards joined the Eighth. 579. Did you return with the Eighth on the " Britannic"?— Yes. 580. You have expressed a desire to come before the Commission. Will you make any statement you may think fit? —Well, the first statement I have to make is with regard to the accommodation on board the troopship " Britannic." In the first place, we went on board on Saturday evening and had blankets served out. I had a pair of blankets served out to me by Sergeant Nairn. I found they were very dirty. 581. What about the accommodation ? —I was attached to A squadron. I was orderly of the A sergeants' table. We had enough hooks for the A squadron sergeants to hang the hammocks to ; but, looking round, I could see that there were not sufficient for the men who were living on our deck. Consequently many of the men had to sleep on the deck. The deck was often wet on account of the water capsizing that we used in washing up the dishes. The passage was rough from Durban to Albany, and water was capsized sometimes. On account of the portholes being low they could not be opened, so that the deck did not dry, and the men were sleeping on the wet floor. Sand was put down to try and dry it. Sometimes it did when the wind came down the windsails, but if the ports were shut through rough weather I should certainly say there was not enough air for the men down below. Then, going on to the meat: I did not see the meat before it went to the cook's galley, but I saw it when it was being served out down below.