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bord, going up the second level. We have there a slight charring along the rib-side, and in Scott's, the next bord above it, a slighter charring. The force of the blast has been the most marked in No. 2 incline. 482. Sir J. Hector.] When you say "most marked," what do you mean? —The disturbance is greatest here ; it seems to have gone up and struck this rib of coal here [indicated on plan], and then to have gone back again to the main incline and straight up, knocking the stoppings out in places until it reached the dynamo. It carried away a brick wall at the back of the house. Very little damage was done on the main haulage-road; there was a slight breakage of timber at the very end, but there was no harm done outside of that at the top of the main dip. There was one point outside (opposite) the cabin where the rails were displaced. There were no indications of burning in the dip. We met with some water there, and the probability was that it checked the tendency to fire. 483. Were there any other indications that you found ?—Taking the lower workings on the west side, there were no indications of burning at all, as though the blast had gone in at the lower point, knocked some trucks over, and had spent itself. There was a large deposit of soot and dust there, but no signs of fire. In the western workings the burning was confined principally to Nos. 5 and 6, and some places between No. 5 and the main incline. There were indications of fire having gone through the cabin when the first stopping was knocked out. 484. How do you know it came from this direction [indicated] ? Was there burning there ?— The main blast had joined there ; there seemed to have been very little burning, and all the men seemed to have come a considerable distance from their places. All these men had travelled from their working-places. 485. Mr. Beare.] Before you go on, could you give a list of those men who were out of their places?—l cannot mention the names without referring to the list. 486. Were there any other indications of violence ?—No ; the indications of violence are very slight in this part. There were displaced props in these two inclines, but no very great violence. 487. Were there any other indications in any other portions of the mine? —No; nothing but what I have described. 488. Did you examine the edge of the goaf workings ?—Yes; there is nothing there but the fall I spoke of, which concealed the last man we found. 489. Was there anything in the goaf workings to indicate the cause of the explosion ?—No. 490. Was there any change in these indications you have told us about from the time you saw them until the experts saw them ?—None whatever. 491. Was Mr. Dunn with you the whole time ?—Yes, and there were other people as well. 492. Were you with the experts when they made their examinations ? —The experts were there at the time, but I was not always with them. 493. Will you describe more fully the lower workings? No doubt, you have heard it stated by some witnesses that they could not get down for water. Could you state where that was ?—ln the lowest level. Of course, as I told you, I got along the level portion by wading in the water. 494. Sir J. Hector.] How many days before Lindop went there?—lt was afterwards that Lindop got down. The men before him recovered some of the bodies in the portion the next morning after the accident. 495. Mr. Beare.] Will you describe what the condition of that level was when you last-saw it ? —lt was an ordinary working-level, and the water was confined to this portion [indicated on plan]. We used to draw the water from here [indicated]. 496. Was' that a solid drive ?—A solid rib along here. 497. Was there much change from the time you saw it till the time the experts went down?— There would be no change at all, but the water would be a little higher. 498. How much higher ?—I do not know exactly what it was when we got through, but the misfortune was we could not make a careful examination of this lower point, in consequence of having to devote our attention to getting out the bodies; and I had overlooked this point. 499. But from your personal knowledge you can say it was a solid drive, practically the same as this ?—There was no working going on in it. It was simply a channel by which the coal was taken out of the mine. The coal came from these working-places along here, and was hauled up by the engine. There were no falls, so far as I know, or great cavities in the roof. 500. Coming back to the intake and return-airway, will you state whether in your opinion it was enough for the mine ?—Yes; I think there was excellent ventilation for the number of men employed. 501. How many cubic feet was it?— From 14,000 to 16,000 cubic feet of air per minute used to go through these workings. 502. Were there any complaints ever made to you by the miners or anybody else of want of ventilation ?—No. 503. Or about anything at all connected with the working of the mine ?—No ; I cannot recollect an instance having been brought to me, or of my having been spoken to about any complaints of that kind. 504. You have heard the evidence given here—that the miners could not find their way, in case of accident, through the return-airway. Do you think there would be any difficulty?— There would be difficulty in any one finding his way out of the return-airway under the conditions that existed at the time of this accident. 505. But under ordinary conditions would the men be able to find their way out through it ?— Not the slightest difficulty. It is certainly not the best roadway to travel, but there is no difficulty about the men, under ordinary conditions, getting through it. 506. There has been some evidence given as so the blasting, and as to men taking powder down. Will you explain fully the practice in regard to the miners taking in powder?—We allowed each pair of men to take between them a canister containing 41b. at a time.