H.—6c.

period of twenty years had great practical experience both of meat-freezing and the frozen-meat trade. His evidence shows that it would be practically impossible for the meat generally to be tainted, though an occasional quarter of beef might have been affected by what is known as " bone-stink," which would affect a portion only of the quarter, and when cut into joints would have been instantly discovered. In mutton " bone-stink" is unknown. Your Commissioners cannot, therefore, believe that the meat was either bad in quality or in any way unfit for issue. ■It was identical with that supplied to the officers' mess-table. That many of the witnesses believed the meat to be tainted is possible ; but their sweeping condemnation of all the food on board diminished materially the value of their testimony. The unanimity with which an issue of salt fish was complained of leads to the belief that there was reason for dissatisfaction ; but as the complaint was immediately attended to, and bully beef supplied instead, the men were given a good meal of food they liked, in exchange for that they objected to. The bread was excellent in quality, and sufficient in quantity, and was supplemented by an unlimited supply of biscuits, which were declared by almost every witness to be excellent. Butter of good quality, or jams and marmalade, were supplied every day ; and no fault was found except to an occasional jar of rhubarb-jam, which was said to have fermented. These small luxuries evidently were good. Sometimes bacon or sausages were issued for breakfast, and preserved meat frequently for supper. The men had cheese on rare occasions. Fresh potatoes, small in size but as good in quality as could be expected on board a ship leaving South Africa, were supplied daily. The evidence showed that the men were, if anything, supplied with larger potatoes than those supplied to the officers' mess. There was continual dissatisfaction expressed that the tea and coffee had been boiled in the same coppers as the soup had been cooked in, and that they were covered with grease in consequence, one witness endeavouring to mislead us into the belief that the grease was 3 in. deep, but on further questioning diminished the alleged quantity from 3 in. to 2 in., to lin., to I in., and ultimately confined himself to saying it was greasy. This wild class of evidence, which was fairly general, tended to discount the value of the complaints. It appears to be not improbable that the tea when greasy may have been so from the "dixies" not having been properly cleaned by the orderly men after having been used for soup. Throughout the whole of the ships of H.M. navy, and in all transports, the tea and coffee are boiled in the same coppers as the meat. It would be quite impossible, with .the limited space available on board ship, to have separate utensils for cooking for a thousand men. The tea and coffee, it would seem, were drinkable, though not nice; that could not be so owing to the circumstances under which they had to be made. In Punch of the 23rd July, 1902, page 45, there is a cartoon of a breakfast-table in the saloon of an ordinary passenger-steamer, entitled "A Secret of the Sea." The passenger says, "Look here, steward, if this is coffee, I want tea; but if this is tea, then I wish for coffee." From this extract it would appear that complaints about board-ship tea and coffee have been heard by others than your Commissioners, even under circumstances more favourable than that of cooking in a transport galley. In the cablegram from the Transport Officer, Durban—which is as follows: " Aug. 27th. Date of last inspection of galley, bakehouse, &c, unknown. Naval Transport."—the dimensions of the men's galley were not stated ; but, as the transport had been engaged carrying other and larger numbers of troops, it is only reasonable to presume the space was up to that required by regulation. No doubt on many occasions the cooking was unsavoury, and the orderlies in accepting -undercooked meat for their mess caused much of the dissatisfaction. All men can eat meat when overcooked, but undercooked meat is absolutely revolting to many. DIETAEY SCALE. The following is the dietary scale for troops or third-class passengers as set out by the Transport Eegulations, and in " Theory and Science of Hygiene," by that eminent authority, Colonel J. Lane Notter, E.A.M.C., M.A., M.D., &c. The colonial troopers were " rationed on superior scale, same as Yeomanry." The Yeomanry ration is said to be an improved third-class scale, but direct evidence as to what constituted the Yeomanry scale was not obtainable. Scale of Rations per Man per Week. Salt beef ... ... ' ... ... ... ... ... 24 oz. Salt pork ... ... .... ... ... ... ... 24 „ Preserved meat ... ... ... ... ... ... 36 „ Flour 12 „ Suet ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 „ Raisins ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 „ Split peas ... ... ... ... ... ... ... £ pint Compressed vegetables ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 oz. Biscuits ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 36 „ Fresh bread ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 Ib. Eice ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 oz. Preserved potatoes . . ... ... ... ... ... 8 „ Sugar (unrefined) ... ... ... ... ... ... 18' „ Tea Bf n Vinegar ... ... ... ... ... ... ... pint. Mustard ... ... ... ... ... ... ... J oz. Pickles ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 „ Pepper ... ... ... ... ... ... ... %„ Salt 2 „

ii—H. 6c.

IX