12
I am bound to admit that I misunderstood the Emigration Officer's explanation on this point. I was misled by the expression that of the 445 feet of the passenger deck 12 feet were open for air.
8. Fourthly, Sir R. Macdonnell points out that the tarpaulin over the hatchway was not a covering of the hatchway brick, but a frame fitted with a hood. The tarpaulin was a canvas cover over a description given the hatchway covering by the Immigration Agent at Melbourne, without any suggestion that it was a substitute for a better covering which had been destroyed on the voyage. Be that as it may, I adhere to the conclusion to which the experience of Emigrant Ships in this country and the U.S. has led those who have enquired into the subject, that a properly built booby hatch or house is preferable to a tarpaulin cover. The fact that the latter was destroyed - if it was destroyed - in this voyage shows its insufficiency.
9. Fifthly, the Emigration Officer says that his omission to notice the assumed absence of windsails and signals was an oversight, but that he is au...