CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE

D.—No. la,

14

drugs, shall, before the sailing of the several ships, be surveyed and examined by the said Agent-General or the officer appointed bj him, who shall, when satisfied therewith, give to the said Louis Knorr and Co. a certificate of his approval thereof, as well as of the number of passengers carried by every ship. The said Louis Knorr and Co. will give a free passage out and home to the surgeons appointed by the Agent-General as hereinafter mentioned, with a state-room and mess at the captain's table, but without wines or spirits, and also a free passage to any children under the age of one year, the relations of the statute adults who shall be conveyed by the said Louis Knorr and Co. The ships shall, on arrival in New Zealand, proceed as far as the depth of water and her safety shall allow. The passengers and their luggage are to be landed, when the ship can go up alongside the wharf, free of expense, otherwise the expense of landing is to be borne by the said Government. The said Government, in consideration of the agreement hereinbefore contained on the part of the said Louis Knorr and Co., agrees to pay the said Louis Knorr and Co. an agency of one pound sterling for every adult passenger, and besides this, a passage money of fourteen pounds sterling per adult for all single female servants and for about twelve vine-dressers with their families. For other emigrants the said Government will pay a passage money of ten pounces sterling per adult. Of these moneys, the agency of one pound per adult and one-half of the passage money shall be payable in London, in cash, fourteen days after the ship has sailed, or has been towed from port to proceed on her voyage, for every passenger embarked; the other half to be paid by the said Government, within seven days from the arrival at the port of destination of the ship, in bank bills at thirty days' sight on London at par, or in cash, at the option of Louis Knorr and Co., for every passenger disembarked. The said Louis Knorr and Co. agree to receive from every passenger five pounds sterling towards their passage money, in cash or in promissory notes, and to transmit such payment or promissory notes to the said Government. The said Government will provide a German surgeon for each ship, who shall receive his instructions direct from the Agent-General, and whose orders respecting the medical treatment and the arrangements regarding the comfort of the passengers shall be obeyed by the captain, officers, and crew ; but no such surgeon shall interfere with the working of the ship to which he shall be attached. The surgeon to be appointed by the Agent-General may be of other than German extraction, provided he can speak the German language fluently. The said Government agrees that all emigrants from Scandinavia engaged by the Agents of the Government in those countries, if shipped from Hamburg, shall be sent, on the same terms, in the ships despatched by Louis Knorr and Co. as far as they have room for the same. In case of any breach of contract during the passage,/!.., by well-substantiated misbehaviour of the captain, the said Government will retain, subject however to a legal decision in London, out of the passage money due in New Zealand, such amount of damages as they may consider themselves entitled to, not exceeding, however, in all one thousand pounds sterling. Such damages shall, however, in no way refer to the outfit and to the arrangements of the ship, nor to the number or description of the emigrants carried, it being understood that the Agent-General's certificate, or that of the officers appointed by him, is to be considered as a full discharge for the good and true performance of the contract in all points relating thereto by the said Louis Knorr and 00. On arrival at the port of disembarkation, the master shall transmit a nominal list of all the passengers on board, signed by himself and the surgeon, to the Immigration Officer acting in that capacity. This list shall be a transcript of the list of passengers embarked, with a note against the name of each individual who, from any cause, may not be landed alive, stating the reason thereof, and added thereto the name and description of infants who may have been born on the voyage. Five clear working or lay days shall be allowed for the disembarkation of the passengers, exclusive of the day of arrival. The Government of New Zealand shall pay demurrage at the rate of fourpence halfpenny per ton register per day for every day the ship is detained by them beyond the period, besides the expense of victualling the passengers on board. And until these lay days shall have expired, or all the passengers shall have finally quitted the ship, bulk shall not be broken, or the berths of the passengers disturbed, except with the consent of the Immigration Officer acting in that capacity. Fresh provisions in lieu of the ordinary rations, as provided hereinbefore, shall be issued to the passengers wlio remain on board during the five lay days already mentioned. If, at the port of disembarkation, the ship shall be placed in. quarantine, the passengers shall be victualled, as described hereinbefore, at the expense of Louis Knorr and Co., either in the ship or in any lazarette or receiving ship to which they may be removed during the five clear days allowed, for disembarkation ; but if the Government of New Zealand or their officers shall require the passengers to remain in the ship beyond this period, they shall be victualled at the expense of the said Government, and demurrage paid by them, as already provided. No second moiety shall be payable with respect of any passenger who, before the expiration of the lay days, may die in quarantine, either in the ship or in any lazarette to which he may have been removed. This agreement, or the benefit thereof, shall not be assigned or transferred by the said Louis Knorr and Co. to any other person or persons without a previous consent, in writing, of the said Government. The present agreement shall be taken to be made by the Agent-General of the Government of New Zealand in his official capacity only, and no liability whatever arising out of it shall attach personally to him or to his private estate or effects. In case of war or prohibition on emigration on the part of the German or Swedish Governments generally, or to New Zealand in particular, this agreement is to be null and void for such part as may not have been then fulfilled. As witness the hands of the said parties. I. E. Featheeston, Agent-General for New Zealand. Julius Horwitz, witness to signature of I. E. Featherston, Esq. Louis Knoee and Co. Julius Horwitz, witness to signature of Louis Knorr and Co.