H.—6c.

N.B.—With fresh meat an additional 4oz, of bread or 3oz. of biscuit is to be issued to each man. N OTE .—The ration of fresh meat is to be of the same weight as that of salt or preserved meat, and Boz. of fresh vegetables are to be the ration for men, women, or children ; but, when fresh vegetables are not procurable, preserved potatoes (uncooked), 20z., or compressed mixed vegetables, loz., are to be issued in lieu. Your Commissioners have no doubt that the scale of food, even of that supplied to Yeomanry, was never denied to the men Sale op Food. Men asserted they had constantly bought food from the cooks, stewards, and erew —some said every day from Durban to Wellington. In this, as in most other assertions, there was probably exaggeration, and they may have confused the legitimate purchasers from the canteen with the illegitimate purchasers of the ship's stores. It seems probable, however, that there was considerable illicit dealing. How it could have been carried on without discovery by the purser or chief steward is difficult to understand, as it was stated that a hundred men at a time would be purchasing. Your Commissioners mention this, though scarcely coming within the scope of their commission, as a matter worth reporting. Your Commissioners considered the possibility of the cooks defrauding the men of a part of their rations with a view to selling it to them better cooked later on ; but have no doubt there was no deficiency in the quantity supplied to the troops, and the sales made were principally of cakes and suchlike commodities rather than of solid food. Verbal orders were given to the troopers to try and put down this iniquitous traffic, but the men's sense of the impropriety does not seem to have been awakened. Hospitals. The most serious part of your Commissioners' inquiry dealt with the health of the men and the attention to and condition of the hospital. There were thirty-two bed-places in the hospital. The number of beds specified for a battleship is 3 per cent, of the crew, and the same provision is made in the Transport Eegulations, and as there were 1,005 non-commissioned officers and men on board the "Britannic " there can be no doubt the Transport Kegulations were complied with as regards hospital accommodation. The height between decks on board the »' Britannic " was not so great as is desirable, but deck-space of 20 to 30 square feet is all that is insisted on, and so any overcrowding of the hospital was consequent on the extraordinary outbreak of illness on board during the last days of the voyage, was only temporary, and was remedied by the Principal Medical Officer. Until arrival at Melbourne the hospital was not full. There were about eighteen patients, and this number is no greater than might have been expected. From Melbourne to Wellington the development of measles was abnormal, rising from about sixteen cases on leaving Melbourne to twentyeight the day after, and then increasing by seven and eight a day until on arrival at Wellington there ■were, according to Surgeon-Major Pearless, P.M.0., fifty-one patients in hospital. Of this total of fifty-one patients, nine were on sick-list with pneumonia. On the Port Health Officer's inspection, many other cases were discovered. In this, as in all other branches of the inquiry, the difficulty of obtaining accurate evidence has been great, owing to the departure of the transport and the entire absence of official records. However, it appears that the first case of measles was discovered about ten days after the transport started from Durban, and the period of incubation being from ten to fourteen days, the germs of the disease had unquestionably been absorbed prior to embarkation, and most probably that may be true of the immediately subsequent cases. It is extremely probable that the measles were introduced into the transport by details of the Tenth Contingent, who had come from a camp where measles had been prevalent. The sufferers, not knowing the nature of their ailment, did not report themselves sick until after they had entered the infectious period of the disease, and consequently had contaminated numbers of their comrades. All the medical testimony without exception was to the effect that the isolation of the disease under the conditions of the troopship was impossible ; and the almost universal catarrh which seems unavoidable on the sudden transition from the high dry air on the veldt to the cold damp air of the sea probably prevented that early discovery of the disease which might have assisted in mitigating the outbreak. Pneumonia is a common sequel of measles under ordinary circumstances. Under those of the close crowding of a large body of men when ventilation is imperfect, coupled with the insanitary condition oi insufficient change of clothing, an outbreak became inevitable Had the troops remained on board another week the epidemic would have been still more disastrous. It was declared by the medical witnesses impossible to avert the spread of pneumonia. One medicai gentleman stated his opinion that the saloon should have been occupied, and the captain of the ship even turned out of his cabin, to provide accommodation for the patients; but we think that was not possible, nor, according to the evidence, was it necessary. The Port Health Officer, in his report to the Chief Health Officer, describes the hospital as being overcrowded and dirty, but appears not to have made allowance for the fact that illness had been developing with terrible rapidity, and that he and the Assistant Chief Health Officer on their inspection themselves sent to the hospital about twenty cases —men who had not reported themselves sick, hoping thereby to avoid detention on board. Except one or two rather vague complaints of lack of attention to patients, not made by themselves but by others, the general impression conveyed was that the Principal Medical Officer and his assistants were attentive to their duties during the voyage, and that notwithstanding the sudden and alarming spread of illness the drugs and appliances were ample, and that provision was made to extend the hospital-space immediately after leaving Melbourne. As an example of the rapid spread of pneumonia we place on record an extract from a, book called " A Doctor in Khaki," by Francis G. Freemantle, M.A., M.8., B.Ch. (Oxon.), M.8.C.P., late Civil Surgeon to Forces in South Africa. " The East Yorks, who, form two-thirds of the troops on

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