left Hongkong on 20th May with 195 Coolies on board, arrived in Surinam on 28th August after a voyage of 112 days having lost by death 202 of her passengers and of her Crew. It was said that of these deaths 120 had occurred in a body of 125 Chinese received from Macao, and much of the loss of life was attributed to the incompetency of the two Native Doctors on board. As the documents sent home were incomplete and at variance in some respects they led to the inference that the sickness was attributable to some existing cause at the time of the embarkation of the people, the Governor of Hongkong was directed to institute an enquiry into the case. The present despatch is the result.
The Governor appointed a Committee consisting of Mr. Murray the Police Magistrate, Dr. Murray the Colonial Surgeon, and Mr. Sinclair the acting Registrar General, to take evidence and report on the case. These Gentlemen took the evidence of Mr. Speidel, who superintends the Emigration, for the Emigration Firm of Messrs. Bulkeley & Co.; of Mr. Shomsett, the Harbour Master and Emigration Officer; of Mr. Lyall, the manager of the Tung Loong Firm through which the Emigrants were obtained; of two Partners of the Firm by whom the "Nicolor" was chartered; and of the Marine Surveyor by whom the vessel was surveyed.