CONNECTED WITH THE SHIP "ENGLAND."

41

G.—No. 3,

also to promote a good feeling among the various nationalities. In this duty you will be cordially supported by Captain Harrington, whose well-known experience will be of great service to you. Any rules which he and you adopt for their comfort and well-being will have to bo strictly enforced. Mrs. Hall, one of the emigrants, is to undertake the duties of matron, upon the recommendation of Captain Harrington ; but in case of her neglecting the same, you will observe, from the instructions framed for her general guidance, that she can be removed. A mess-constable is also to be appointed for the single women, so that there shall be no occasion whatever for any girl proceeding to the galley or the fore part of the ship. The emigrants have been instructed to look to you as their guide, adviser, and protector throughout the voyage. A list of the Government emigrants is furnished in the accompanying " Medical Journal." Wishing you a prosperous voyage, I have, &c, I. E. Featherston, To Surgeon, Ship " England." Agent-General.

CORRESPONDENCE. No. 2. Memorandum for the Agent-General, London. (No. 37-72.) The ship "England," having on board Scandinavian and other emigrants for Wellington and Hawke's Bay, arrived in Port Nicholson on the 9th instant. From the documents accompanying the enclosed narrative* of the proceedings and occurrences with respect to this vessel, you will learn that serious contagious diseases —small-pox and malignant measles—broke out amongst the emigrants soon after leaving London; that sixteen deaths occurred during the voyage, and that since her arrival one death has taken place, and several passengers are still under medical treatment. In consequence of the vessel being in quarantine, the narrative enclosed is necessarily defective ; and while I do not wish in any way to prejudge the case, yet it is apparent that great inattention has been shown to the patients during the whole voyage. The circumstances will form the subject, here, probably of judicial, or at all events of official, investigation ; but I wish, meanwhile, to impress upon your notice several points of grave importance, into which I wish you to institute, as far as you can, a searching inquiry, and in respect of which, for the future, to take the most stringent precautions to guard against their possible recurrence. 1. In your letter of the 16th November, you do not mention the names of " the highly respectable firm" in Hamburg with whom you have contracted for the shipment of foreign emigrants from that port, nor do you mention the names of the firm in Copenhagen who are to select the Danes, nor of that in Gothenburg who are to select the Swedes; but I notice with much surprise that Mr. Horniman has been permitted to select the Danes by the " England," notwithstanding that, in his previous shipment of Scandinavians, there was, as reported in my letter to Mr. Morrison, of 13th May last, much that was highly objectionable and destructive of confidence, in addition to the selection of improper characters. Tou will notice that, in Mr. Leigh's report on the Bth March, it is stated that "the majority of the emigrants had been exposed to great hardships and very severe weather immediately preceding their shipment on board the ' England,' " and that " this greatly contributed to the severity of the epidemic and other illness from which they have suffered." I understand that this refers to the emigrants having been conveyed from the Continent to London, in the month of December, on the deck of the steamer ; and Dr. Bulmer also, in his report of the 14th instant, states " the Scandinavian passengers declare that they were treated like so many brutes in their passage from Copenhagen to London." I am not able at present to form any opinion as to whether a course so detrimental to health and injurious to emigration, was pursued with your knowledge; but lam glad to notice that in your letter of the 16th November, you expressly state that " between-deck passages " were to be provided for all the Scandinavian emigrants. Should Mr. Horniman (who is, I presume, the agent in Copenhagen) have neglected to carry out your intention in this respect, you will at once inflict such penalty as your agreement may empower you to impose. As disease broke out about a week after sailing, I regret that I have not been informed of the precautions you have directed to be taken for the approval and medical examination of the emigrants * As the circumstances detailed in the narrative are included in the evidence appended to the Report of the Commission, this Enclosure is omitted. 11