A.—No. 1

42

DESPATCHES EROM THE GOVERNOR OE

Lang Lee, being sworn, saith : I was a passenger by a ship from Hong Kong, which arrived here about a week ago. The gentleman present was the captain of the ship. We were about four months on the passage. There was no quarrelling from any cause ; we were all happy. The food was sometimes good, sometimes bad and stunk. Some passengers ate it, some did not. We had vegetables. The water was good. We got fresh potatoes for a fortnight nearly ; owing to the long passage the food was not enough. Some asked the Captain for rice when four days from port; he replied that they would soon be in port, and did not give them any. According to the scale now produced, the passengers did not get the full weight of food. (Signed) Moblaud Hocken, Coroner. (Signed) (Chinese Signature.) Ah Peng, being sworn, saith : I was a passenger on board the " Guiding Star ;" there was no fighting on board. The pork and beef were good when put on board ; they became bad and stunk, and so did the fish. The vegetables were good. Ido not know what made the passengers ill; I think the long passage. I believe the water coming through the deck to the casks spoiled the meat. The Captain was kind. There was lime juice. The decks let the water through upon me. (Signed) Mobland Hocken, Coroner. (Signed) (Chinese Signature.) John Eobert Monson, being sworn, saith : I am an Emigration Officer to the Port of Ducedin. I produce the ship's papers of the barque " Guiding Star," from Hong Kong, by which it appears that she was cleared on the 6th of June, and sailed on the 10th of June. She is certified to be properly fitted for 225 passengers, and to have water and provisions on board for ninety days. The ship arrived here on the 2nd of October, thus making a passage of 115 days. The master immediately reported that there had been twenty-seven deaths during the voyage, and that there were several ill on the ship, as far as he could say, from scurvy and dysentery. The ship was put in quarantine, but was released by the Board of Health the following day. On this day, being alongside, and through the Interpreter, I asked how the passengers had been treated. The reply was, that the Captain was a very good man, but the ship was too long coming. The ship appeared to me to be well fitted. No complaint was made to me of the character of the food. They told me that they had had their provisions and water. I consider that ninety days' supply of provisions is too short for passenger ships from China at this time of year. I also think that farther attention should be paid to the provisions for warmth and bedding supplied, and also that the lower tier of berths should be at least 6 inches from the deck. I consider the diet scale of the Chinese Emigration Act to be a most meagre one ; and that had European passengers been supplied on the same scale and under the same conditions for as long a voyage not one-half of them would have reached here. I alao think if a European doctor is not appointed to those vessels, there should at any rate be a competent Chinese interpreter on board. (Signed) Mokland Hocken, Coroner. (Signed) J. K. Monson, E.O. William Augustus Yates, being sworn, saith : I am a duly registered medical practitioner ; I am also house-surgeon of the Dunedin Hospital. The deceased, Chang Man, was admitted to this hospital on the 4th of October, suffering from bronchitis and tubercle of the lungs. He died from these complaints on the 9th. About sixteen Chinese are at present under treatment, many of them suffering from great debility, dropsy of the legs, and dysentery. Insufficient food and warmth would cause the complaint of which Chang Man died. All who were admitted were in a state of extreme weakness, and were quite ravenous for food ; most of them were emaciated also. Ido not think the scale of diet now produced to be suitable for passengers on a long voyage, unless the meat was of excellent quality, and that lime juice was also administered. (Signed) Mobland Hock'en, Coroner. (Signed) W. A. Yates. The jury, after hearing the foregoing evidence, returned the following verdict: —" That the said " Chang Man died at the Dunedin Hospital on the 9th day of October, from bronchitis and tubercle of " the lungs. (Signed) T. M. Hockeit, Coroner. All the above informations were severally taken and acknowledged on the day and year and at the place above mentioned, before me, (Signed) T. M. Hocken, Coroner.

List of Stores for Chinese Passengers. 16 casks pork 3 jars of ginger 16 casks beef 5 jars of salt cabbage 1 cask salt fish 30 jars of turnips 25 jars of eggs 2 jars of vinegar 19 bales of salt fish 15 jars of jam 9 cases of tea 5 jars of lemon peel 25 baskets Macow potatoes 3 jars of oil 5 baskets Tong potatoes 11 bags of pears 17 jars of pickles 310 bags of rice

11th October, 1871. The jury further add the following rider: —That, in their opinion, the large amount of weakness and death on board the " Guiding Star," on her recent passage from China to Port Chalmers, was in a great measure caused by the want of sufficiently wholesome provisions on board, and of sufficient provision for the warmth of the passengers. They find from the evidence that the quality of the preserved meat placed on board at Hong Kong was (with perhaps the exception of the fish) poor from the first, though eatable ; it rapidly, however, became black and stank, and so unfit for food. From this, they