H.—l9a

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351. Was there a camp sergeant-major ? —The sergeant-major of the Hawera Mounted Bifles was acting as battalion sergeant-major. 352. Was there a camp sergeant-major ?—Not to my knowledge. 353. Major Hawkins.] As orderly sergeant, and hearing the bugle sound for orders, where would you go for them ?—I suppose we would have been instructed before where to go when the bugle sounded. 354. Colonel Davies.] You never had any battalion orders at all?— No. 355. Or any orders of any description ?—Only our own company orders telling off the orderlies and picket for the horses. 356. Company orders by your own company commander ?—Yes. 357. The Chairman.] Did you get any orders about parades ? —No. The only time we knew a parade was coming off was when the bugle sounded and we fell in. 358. No order was issued for the next day ?—No.

Wednesday, 7th August, 1901. Captain Charles Dunk examined. (No. 9.) 1. The Chairman.] What is your name, rank, and corps ?—Charles Dunk, Captain Commanding the Manawatu Mounted Rifles. 2. How long have you been captain of that corps ? —Since June, 1891. 3. You and your corps were at the Newton Park camp in June last ?—Yes. 4. Do you remember the strength of your corps in camp on that occasion ?—Forty-seven horses and fifty-one men. 5. When did you go into camp?—On the night of the 13th June. 6. And remained in camp until when ? —Until the first batch of men went away in the s.s. "Flora" for Christchurch. 7. What tent accommodation was there in camp for the men ?—They were pretty closely packed. I think we had only four tents for the men, and one tent between the three officers. 8. Had the men plenty of straw ?—There was sufficient straw, because more was issued after the first night. 9. What have you to say with regard to the rations for the men? —So far as the quality is concerned, they were quite good—very good indeed. 10. And as to quantity ? —There was no complaint as to quantity. The only complaint was in reference to the cooking. Many times the meat was scarcely warmed through. On one or two occasions the men complained about it, and I informed Colonel Sommerville. We took a fair sample of the whole of the rations, and they were carried down for his inspection. 11. When was that? —-I think it was on the Monday morning. 12. What happened then? —-The reply was that he could do very little in the matter. 13. Do you know whether the contractor or quartermaster was interviewed about it?—At various times I heard the colonel speak to the contractor about it through the telephone. 14. Did it improve in any way ?—Right through to the end the meat was not cooked. On many occasions there was absolutely no tea at all. 15. That was for your men? —Yes. 16. Can you speak as to other corps ?—Only those I was temporarily put in charge of. 17. Which were they?— The Manawatu, Awanui, Otaki, and Hunterville corps. 18. Those corps at times had not tea at all?— Yes; and at other times it was very poor. It was caused by two reasons. In the first place the water ran out, and in the second place it was impossible to boil the water because there was no cover for the men— the weather was so bad. 19. After the tea was made what was the quality of it ? —Not too good. 20. As regards the rations, how were they as to quantity ?—I heard no complaints as to the quantity. My opinion is that if they had been properly cooked no complaints would have been heard. 21. Had you any sausages and other small things ? —Yes. 22. Were they properly cooked ? —Just warmed through, and sometimes they were just as bad as they could possibly be. One morning the whole of the breakfast was collected in pans, and one or two of them were taken to Colonel Sommerville for his inspection. The sausages were perfectly raw, and so was the beef. 23. How often did you complain to Colonel Sommerville about the rations not being cooked ? —Not more than once or twice. Colonel Sommerville told me he was powerless to do anything. 24. Did you inspect the cooking arrangements yourself ? —Yes. 25. What were they like ?—They were just as simple as they possibly could be. The cooks in cooking the men's rations had no cover at all. A trench was cut a few feet away from the foot of the ridge at Newtown Park, and after a fairly heavy shower of rain the water ran down from the road and filled the trench. 26. How long would it have taken a fatigue party to put up some corrugated iron as a protection ? —A very short time—sufficient to protect the cooks. There would only be a few hours' work. 27. Was that suggested by anybody ?—I do not know. I said to the cooks that it was hard lines that they should be left out in the wind and weather to cook the stuff. It was no usecom- - plaining to those men ; it was not their fault. 28. Supposing a covering had been put up, would there have been any difficulty in cooking the rations?— Not the least. There was plenty of good matai wood there.