D.—l

92

of them, especially in the married people and single men's compartments, appeared to be dirty in person, badly clothed, and poor in physique. We found one girl in hospital, suffering from phthisis. She appeared to be in an advanced stage of that disease, and in our opinion should never have been selected as an emigrant. On being questioned, she stated that she had been ill for a long time, and that her doctor in England told her a sea voyage might do her good. On inspecting the ship we found all the compartments dark and ill ventilated, and complaints were universal as to the dampness of the beds, caused by the bed-places being fixed against the sides of the ship. Tho hospitals were also dark, ill-ventilated, and in every way unsuitable, being in fact more like prisons than places for the treatment of sick persons. In our opinion this vessel is totally unfit for the conveyance of emigrants to this Colony. It is quite true, no doubt, that she was duly inspected and passed by the proper officers before leaving England, but it appears evident that these officers are satisfied with a bare compliance with the requirements of the Passengers Act, the provisions of which are sufficiently liberal for short voyages. But if emigration to this Colony is to be made attractive, something more than a meagre compliance with the law should be the leading principle in the arrangements entered into by the Agent-General. We would point out that clause 21 of the printed contract with Messrs. Shaw Saville states that " The single women shall have the use of tho poop deck for exercise " —no mention being made of the rights of cabin passengers. In the instructions issued by the Agent-General to captains of emigrant ships, it is stated that " If there are cabin passengers, a reasonable space must be allotted to single women, and tho captain must prohibit familiarities, &c." The impropriety of allowing single women and cabin passengers to mix together on the poop is apparent, and on reference to the surgeon-superinten-dent's journal it will be found that this caused him a great deal of extra trouble. We attach a report from tho surgeon-superintendent, and would direct especial attention to his remarks with reference to tho hospitals, cooking galley, short supply of medical stores, bad quality of bedding, position of storeroom, &c. The payment of all the gratuities is recommended. Captain Baillie and Surgeon-Superintendent Diver appear to have been especially attentive, and we consider the latter gentleman eminently qualified to take medical charge of another emigrant ship to this Colony, should he desire to do so. We have, &c, Alexandee Johnston, M.D., "\ J. Hackwoeth, / „ . . John Hollidat, f Comnnssioners. H. J. H. Eliott, ) Immigration Officer, Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure 1 in No. 99. Report by the Surgeon-Superintendent of Ship " Wild Duck." The conduct of the emigrants generally has been good. The single girls also except three or four, who have upset the whole lot, and occasionally given us some trouble. In consequence of being assaulted by one of the sailors, I thought it necessary for my own protection and for the maintenance of order to appoint an extra constable, which I did. On March Bth, a single woman complained that she had lost various articles of clothing. I had the married people's and single women's quarters searched without effect. I have no evidence that the articles were lost on board. May 8. —A single woman died suddenly of heart disease and old age. She is stated as being 55 ; lam sure she is nearer if not over 70. She received attention and medical comforts since the 14th of February daily. All my constables, except one, have acted well, and fully deserve their pay. The matron has had many difficulties to contend with, in consequence of my insisting upon the orders being strictly carried out. She has done her work very well, considering that she is unused to such duties. lam quite disgusted with the hospital arrangements. I need say nothing about them as they have been examined here, except that in my opinion they are not fit for the purpose at all. There are five berths, when there only ought to be two in such a small space. One porthole was blocked up entirely because the sea spurted in at least a yard, and consequently the light was shut out. He other was fastened, and could not open because of tho fastenings being out of order. The bunks and bedding were very seldom dry, and flooring also. The storeroom was a few feet from the hospital, and had to be arrived at by going through tho married people's quarters and past the hospital; in fact, the people waiting for stores surrounded the hospital door. The hospital should, in my opinion, be under the poop, with skylights to open when necessaiy, and should be looked after as a matter of the greatest importance, instead of as a matter of very little importance, by what I see. It may be presumption on my part to say so, but I think from what I have observed that the vessel was not properly inspected with respect to the comfort-3 of the sick (in case there should be any) before leaving London. I would suggest that the hospital's furniture, plates and dishes, knives and forks, and all necessaries, should be seen and certified by a responsible person ; also the medical stores and milk, all of which we ran short of before tho voyage was over; and I had to get stores from the captain. My assistant can certify to this, as he had tho serving out of the medioal comforts, according to my directions. Many if not all of the beds have been more or less wet during the voyage, owing to the water coming in through the walls of the ship. The water-closets arrangements, valves, &c, should be most perfect, as it is difficult if they are below watermark to get them repaired at sea; and once or twice we have had trouble. I think, also, that it should be certified that there is the proper quantity of charcoal and hot sand. This is absolutely necessary to remove damp, which is very injurious on board ship. We had only two small bags of charcoal, which we made do as well as we could. In fact,, everything should be certified before leaving, as it cannot afterwards be rectified.