D.—2.

24

I am of opinion that the surgeon cannot do his duty whilo he is on the articles, for if he tries to do his duty he has to point out several things to the captain, and perhaps give a little trouble, whereas the captain, who is the servant of the owners of the ship, works for them and himself, and in many cases is not satisfied unless he can make money during the voyage by many little acts contrary to orders, viz., selling spirits and tobacco, Ac. I had some trouble in this particular and in many other ways. I repeat, the surgeon should be free, or he cannot do what is expected of him for the benefit of the passengers without being made very miserable the whole of the voyage by the captain and his crew. I never think of the ship " Wild Duck " without being thankful that she arrived as she did with respect to the health of the passengers; and I can produce abundant evidence of everything I have stated. 13th January, 1874. H. L. Diver.

No. 26. The Hon. J. Vogel to the Agent-General. (No. 24.) Sir, — Immigration Office, Wellington, 6th February, 1874. Herewith is forwarded copy of the report of the Immigration Commissioners upon the ship " Salisbury," which arrived at AVellington upon the 19th January. Tou will observe that the Commissioners again direct attention to the store-room being in the married people's compartment, and to there being no improvement either in the means of getting up and down the 'tween-decks. I have, Ac, The Agent-General for New Zealand, London. Julius Vogel.

Enclosure in No. 26. Commissioners' Report on Ship " Salisbury." Sir, — Wellington, 26th January, 1874. We have the honor to report the arrival of the ship " Salisbury " on Tuesday morning, the 19th inst., with 200 statute adult Government immigrants —one birth and no deaths having occurred since leaving England. One child died before the ship left Plymouth, but the circumstance was duly reported in the Agent-General's letter of the 22nd October last. The " Salisbury " was signalled 011 Sunday afternoon, the 18th inst., but as it was blowing a gale from the N.W., we concluded that she would not be able to work in on that day. On the Monday, the gale continuing, arrangements were made for sending out a steam-tug, and as no information had reached us as to the health of the passengers, we concluded it was our duty to proceed by the steamer, in order to be in a position to take action at once should it be necessary to place the ship in quarantine. Fortunately, however, we ascertained that all were well on board, and having succeeded, after some trouble, in towing the vessel into harbour at 3.15 a.m. on Tuesday morning, we arranged to inspect the immigrants at 10 o'clock the same day. We first mustered the immigrants, and on the whole, we found them to be a strong, healthy lot of people, the only exception being a young man named Craig, who is suffering from haemoptysis; but as we have since ascertained that he was not selected or sent out by the Agent-General, we do not consider that he should be classed with the Government immigrants, although he received the same treatment on board the ship, and was supposed to have been one. We found the single men's compartment tolerably clean, but wo should have liked to have seen it better ventilated and lighted. As however, there was plenty of cubical space per adult, there were no evil results. The married people's compartment was well lighted and ventilated by ten side ports, nine decklights, and two large ventilators through the deck-house. There were alley-ways all round the berths, which greatly promoted ventilation. The hospital was ventilated by a mushroom ventilator, and the compartment was clean and tidy. We must again direct attention to the storeroom being in the married people's compartment. We have more than once stated that in our opinion it should be on deck; and if no other place can be provided, one of the outer cabins in the saloon should be used for the purpose. There is no improvement either in the means for getting up and down the 'tweendecks, every vessel having the same description of light, flimsy, and inconvenient hatchway and ladder to which we have so often called attention. In this vessel there was a large beam right across the hatchway, which must have been very inconvenient. The single women's compartment was particularly clean ; it was well lighted, and ventilated by eight ports, and a large sky-light which went up through the poop. The hospital and bath-room in this compartment were very good. The matron had also a comfortable enclosed cabin. The passengers' galley was roomy and well fitted, but the condenser was almost useless, not having been worked since the 13th December. This was after the ship had been detained at Plymouth for eleven days on account of the same condenser. Fortunately there was a good supply of water on board when the condenser broke down, and the immigrants informed us that they had all received their full allowance. On questioning the people, we found that they were all generally well satisfied with the treatment they had received on board. One or two married men made a statement that rice had been short issued, but the captain explained that they had received more of other things than was stipulated on their contract tickets, and he did not wish to do them out of a few pounds of rice. The complaint was ridiculed by most of the people who were present on deck when it was made, and we did not