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&c. He adds on this point that she was built at Bordeaux in 1855, fitted at Sydney in 1867, and recoppered at Sydney with respect to her manning he says she had the same crew on board with which she had come from Sydney - that South Sea Islanders make good seamen - and that the Australian Government do not require officers of Merchant Ships to have certificates of competency - that all the Crew had been "sanctioned by" the officials at Sydney. He did not feel justified in suspecting that the number was 14, no 12.
Colonial built vessels, he says, rarely carry a larger proportion of crew, and that at all events the navigation of the ship had nothing to do with the mortality. In regard to ventilation he says that the hatchways together measured 124 square feet over a passenger deck of only 45 furlongs, and was, therefore, he considers, ample. And he alleges that a tarpaulin over a spar (which was complained of) was better covering for the main hatchway than a tarred hatch. In respect to provisions he says that they were examined in the usual way by opening packages selected at random, but that it is impossible for the Emigration Officer to ascertain personally the actual quantity on board.